A Dubbo business woman has pursued her "passion project", designing and releasing her own clothing collection.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
'Wildflower' is the first and summer offering from Lazy Sunday Lifestyle owner Kate Griffiths for her label of the same name.
The labour of love for the retailer who has a university degree in design takes her fashion, homewares and gifts boutique started in 2017 to the next level.
Within weeks of the vividly-coloured dresses and shirts going on sale online and in store, two of the 13 styles have sold out, Ms Griffiths reports.
"I never expected it to be such a quick success as it has been," she said.
"I've already sold out of two styles and we're starting to get low, which is great.
"So the feedback's been amazing.
"It's been overwhelming because it's been a passion project, I suppose you could call it, I put everything of me into it, so it's nice to hear people are reacting well to it."
The collection by the woman who grew up on her family's farm at Narromine was 10 months in the making from initial sketches to a finished product going home with customers.
Its development means the realisation of a long-held ambition, in what may be the most unlikely of times, amid drought and downturn.
"It's something I've always wanted to do, and this year, back in January when the drought was quite severe, and things were looking worse for retail, and just in general small business... I thought it was time to take the plunge and go ahead with the label that I wanted to do," Ms Griffiths said.
Originally known only as the summer collection of Lazy Sunday Lifestyle, its eventual name honours the turnaround in the district's landscape.
I put everything of me into it...
- Lazy Sunday Lifestyle label designer Kate Griffiths
"As I was finalising all the samples and the designs, the drought broke, and I was literally sitting, looking after my parents' farm and looking out at all the weeds and the wildflowers growing back and that's what led to the name," Ms Griffiths said.
The designer still remembers the feeling when her collection was delivered in "lots and lots of boxes".
"Quite emotional actually, I was very happy with it," Ms Griffiths said.
The woman with a passion is sketching at night for her second and autumn collection, with two collections planned each year initially.
"Then hopefully I'll be able to grow that to four collections a year," she said.
Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
