Behind the Scenes and creation of the upcoming RANT collection- SYNTHESIS

It’s been 7 years since I have created a ‘dressed up  collection’ one that offers styles and fabrics for those more dressed up occasions rather than the every day. I am still enjoying my pieces from the ‘Enigmatic Guise’ 2018 RANT collection and will for many years but when I saw these stunning Japanese Cupro fabrics I knew it was time to have some new additions, and I know that many others will feel the same.

Cupro is a regenerated cellulose fibre which uses the left over cotton from the ‘Ginning process’ and is produced in a ‘closed loop system’ so a very eco friendly fabric. I’ve always loved it because it has a divine handle, super silky on your skin and drapes beautifully. It’s like silk but instead of being light and airy like silk, but it’s more weighty which hangs perfectly, skimming your body and flowing when you walk.

The idea for ‘Synthesis’ as a collection evolved from these Japanese made Cupro fabrics as they take the cotton fibres and 'synthesise' them into fabric, along with this collection being new fabrics I have acquired blended with vintage fabrics. One of the fabrics I purchased 20 years ago, and created a collection in 2005, however my wholesale agent at the time didn't think what I had created would sell well to her clients, so it was back to the drawing board and the fabric was put into storage waiting for it's time to shine. When your business is 100% wholesale (well before online shopping) you need to design what you know the stores you sell to can sell, which is not always what you love and want to create! 

 With 'SYNTHESIS' I wanted to fuse all these elements together to design a collection of beautiful garments that make those special occasions even better because you're feeling comfy and draped in luscious fabrics. 

SYNTHESIS is only available in very limited quantities, most of the styles we made 2 per colour/size only and some styles are made to order.  The made to order ones will take a couple of weeks for me to cut and sew, but this way we use the precious fabric for sizes and styles people are wanting. 

The SYNTHESIS photo shoot was last week and was super fun as we came up with a novel idea for our shoot, that worked perfectly on the day. We thought of the science side and that having conical flasks would be great props. Adding blue food colouring to the water would match the blue theme of the collection and adding dry ice would create the best effect. 

Below are 'behind the scenes' pics from the day to give you a glimpse of the shenanigans.  

(above, Jay and Todd our trusty photographer filling the flasks)

My husband Jay hasn't been working full time in the business since the end of 2022, but we needed his 'science brain' at the shoot to ensure we had the right amount of mist was created. We did have a practice session at home the week before to work out the perfect temp for the water, liquid quantity for each flask and amount of dry ice to be added. It only lasts for about 90 seconds, so it was a mammoth mission to top up with boiling water and rotate the flasks around and to quickly get the images. 

Gemma our hair & makeup artist came up with a cute hair look for our model Zhoe. there was a zig zag parting done down the centre of her head and all her hair was twisted into cute 'buns'. We did a small section at the beginning with a more simple makeup look, a splash of silvery white on the eyes, which later transformed into a blue toned with winged eyeliner look, which suited Zhoe perfectly.

I am so grateful that Gemma always comes up with the perfect makeup looks because I personally don't wear or own any makeup and haven't for many years. But it's a very intricate part of the styling for the collections, giving them the complete look. 

In the above pic, I am assisting Zhoe with her next look. We have a few scarves in this collection, which meant many hours of roll hemming on the sewing machine. I actually find roll hemming a satisfying job, it becomes like a meditation to do!

Jay topping up the flasks with the tiny electric kettle, he did many many trips to the kitchen to boil the kettle as there wasn't hot water at the studio. 

Gemma being part time hair & makeup artist and part time science assistant, having fun with the dry ice. She may or may not have had too much fun on occasions and created a mini volcano! 

 Zhoe in these pics is wearing the amazing styles in the vintage silk fabric. All styles in this fabric are made to order. I decided that I wanted to create a skirt with lots of fullness to be a statement piece, which can be worn on it's own or over the new version of the Banksii Petticoat. I also created a new 'wrap/apron' for this collection. Wraps & Apron styles are what I made right back in the beginning of RANT in 2003. I sometimes get pictures sent to me by customers who still have some of those original ones, so good to see they are as relevant today as they were over 20 years ago.

I am making one of each size of these styles to bring to the POP UP launch event in Brisbane on November 1st & 2nd, which is only 4 weeks away now. 

More will be revealed in 4 weeks time when we are ready to launch this collection. 

The Pop Up Brisbane launch gives you a chance to feel the fabrics and try things on for fit etc. You also get to meet the whole family team. 

The online launch will be Thursday 5th November as we need a few days to get everything back into stock after the weekend event. Updates will be via our newsletters and Instagram.

Thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.

Cheers,

Sarah