Meet the Aussie brand that is drawing inspiration from beautiful seascapes and transforming it into classic cut women’s, men’s and kids’ clothes that are made right here in Australia.
Seagrass Design is an art and fashion label based in Launceston, Tasmania. The founders, Jamie and Kimberley McCabe, started the brand in Brisbane in 2007 and have slowly shaped the design and product over the last 10+ years. The result is a range of beautiful and unique prints, on an assortment of women’s, men’s, and kids’ clothing and accessories.
Seagrass is 100% designed and made in Tasmania and plans to stay that way despite the growing demand for the product. Keeping the production close by means they have control of their supply chain and can ensure ethical manufacturing requirements are upheld.
The brand uses linen, cotton and rayon fibres for the majority of its clothes – a plus for the environment as the natural and semi-synthetic fibres will easily break down in landfill at the end of their life.
The individual designs and dedication to tailoring mean the clothes are sturdy and long-lasting, made to last many seasons.
Co-founder and designer Kimberley McCabe keeps a close eye on the supply chain, working with a Bangkok supplier who sources and prints the brand’s fabrics.
“The supplier that we work with ensures that everything is ethically produced. It’s a small business that has grown with us over the last couple of years. We’ve actually seen the growth in its quality and size thanks to the partnership with Seagrass Design,” Kimberley says.
“That supplier prints all our fabrics and ships them to us here, and we make all of the clothes ourselves. Between my husband and I we do all of the cutting, and we have a few local sewers – some are TAFE graduates, others are mums whose alternations businesses have been overrun by cheap online alternatives.”
Kimberley says her and Jamie have plans to go to Bangkok in the next year to work closely with the brand’s suppliers and ensure everything is as they say it is.
“It’s hard to keep transparency in the supply chain when you’re dealing with offshore suppliers, language barriers and time differences, but we’re hoping to strengthen the relationship and made sure everything stays above board.”
The Seagrass Design founders saw the lack of sustainable clothes available for men and children and wanted to make their attire available for the whole family. The brand now produces a range of mens T-shirts with the Seagrass Design prints, and has cute little overalls for newborns to toddlers. There’s also plans to expand each of these ranges – with bigger sizes and styles coming to the kids range, and shorts being added to the mens range.
“It’s always going to be made in Tassie. That’s our thing and we love doing it.”
Find out more and shop Seagrass Designs here.
