INTERVIEW with Sarah Textor || Clive Street
SD: Hi Sarah, for my readers who don’t know you yet, can you please introduce yourself?
ST: Firstly, thank you so much for this opportunity to sit down and tell a bit of my story. I have been a long time fan of your work and I was so excited when your email came through!
My name is Sarah Textor, I am a proud mum of 4 children and 2 little fur babies who are my whole world. The past 30 years I have dedicated my whole life to my children which I wouldn’t change for the world; sadly, my husband suddenly past away 20 years ago when our children were just babies and so it has just been me and them ever since and we have supported each other through it all, as my girls say “we are just a big group of bffs”. My family is a huge part of who I am so it was just necessary that I named Clive Street after the most important man in my life - my Father. Robert Clive Curtis help shaped me to the woman I am today and I am eternally thankful for him to help me through all the ups and downs the world gives.
Sewing has always been apart of my life, my Granny taught me to sew when I was roughly 6 years old and it has stuck with me since. I was so excited when my youngest daughter came to me when she was around 10 years old to teach her how to make her own clothes and ever since then I haven’t stopped! We started to make all things 10 year olds want, little dresses, clothes for her toys, matching pillowcases for her and her siblings and the list goes on. This experience really sparked a fire under me to continue to sew and the sustainable tick in my brain went of to see what else I could do!
Starting with sewing Hession backpacks and home decor pieces with a close friend of mine really inspired me to see what else could be done! I eventually discovered inner tube tyres and billboard skins and here we are today. Full collections solely created from sustainable materials here in Brisbane. I have lived in Brisbane ever since I was 13 and it truely is the best place to live! I have had the amazing opportunity to discover the small business support our community has here and it constantly blows my mind how as a community people come together to show love and support up and coming business. And that sort of brings us to who I am today, still in Brisbane, trying not to be a helicopter mum to my adult children haha and doing what I love every single day in my work.
SD: What was the biggest inspiration behind your latest collection?
ST: I wish I had a gorgeous elaborate explanation for this to make me sound into the know about fashion and style but there isn’t really a specific thing. This will probably sounds really silly in a way but I guess you could say my own personal style evolution. I have always worn only black clothes for majority of my life; I have recently started evolving in my own personal style, trying new pieces, new colours, trying on things that aren’t all supper baggy and I guess you could see this through my pieces. I have been loving adding a little extra colour or a little pattern into my wardrobe and I guess it has sort of gone over to my designs as well. It’s funny writing this down because in the moment I didn’t realise I was doing it but reflecting on it now it’s funny how certain things in your life influence others. I have really been drawn to bright billboard skins lately and experimenting with different metals in the hardware and I would normally be scared to try something out of my comfort zone but I really am liking the way my designs are coming out and I believe they really reflect who I am as a person and who I want Clive Street to be.
SD: What helps you get in the zone when you’re designing?
ST: I am a very simple women, I love my daily routine and little things make me happy. In my designing process I like to have my things that make me happy around me to keep my mind clear. I just want to say, these things are so silly and super random but it’s what I have formed into my process. There are two things that I like playing on my google home, if it’s the morning it will always be Ray Hadly (I call him my radio husband) discussing worldly topics and if it’s after midday with out a doubt it will be some sort of true crime podcast; mainly Australian true crime but just having this playing sort of make me zone out. Next is a cold glass of iced water in my favourite ceramic cup - silly I know but again it makes me happy. And lastly, not something that I control but my cats. They barely leave my side as it is so it is no surprise that they are with me in my designing process. I think it’s important to figure out what works for you and roll with it, mine just seems to be listening to opinionated people with a cold beverage (haha)
SD: When did you first realise you wanted to pursue a career as a designer?
ST: I don’t believe there was a certain time that it clicked and I decided but I think it was just not stopping with my sewing and people starting liking my items and I thought to myself “wow I could really do this”. Something that my youngest child has really instilled into my mind with her wild 20 year old lifestyle is “why the hell not”. It really is her answer to everything. I asked her one day what it actually meant and she explained to me her thought process to life and how it’s so short so why not give something a go; your either going to fail, move on and try again or your going to succeed and be so thankful that you did it. I was quite shocked really when I first heard it because I grew up in a world where everything has consequences and most things are black and white but hearing that really made me think well then “why the hell not”. Why aren’t I giving it a go? Why aren’t I following my career dreams? Why am I not living to my full potential? And I guess it really helped me to keep pushing forward. Not many times I understand the things that come out of her mouth, half the time it’s about what the kardasians are wearing or asking if I saw a runway show of a designer that is on the other side of the world that I’ve never heard about (if you couldn’t tell she’s my fashionista child) but funny enough this one stuck with me. I think we all have to ask ourselves sometimes, “why the hell not?”
SD: What was your biggest fear when going out and starting your own line?
ST: I’m sure many people can relate to this but I had HUGE fears of starting my own business, especially in the fashion industry. I am just a regular 50 year old woman who wears the same black T-shirt and cut off ripped up jeans everyday, and I guess getting taken seriously was something that always crossed my mind. This was difficult for me and a challenge I definitely had at the beginning of Clive Street, but I thought to myself “I’m not selling Sarah Textor, I’m selling Clive Street” as silly as that sounds. But it is the truth, and I made a decision many many years ago that I wouldn’t be changing for anyone.
My whole life I have suffered from depression and truely every day is a struggle to make the choice whether I’m going to let it win or not. My mindset really had to change when I finally made the decision to launch Clive Street; it was I either let it cloud me or I ignore it and take a leap - and that leap I took was maybe one of the first times in decades were I can look back at myself and be proud. As many mums can relate, your children are your whole life; and this was my first thing I did in many years that was for ‘me’ and not for them and I guess you could say that was a fear for me. Not being there for them constantly, or not being 100% available ect but they were getting older, they were creating there own lives, and it was time to create mine. As Sarah and not as Mum.
SD: How do you want people to feel when wearing your bags and accessories?
ST: I think this varies with every person - what I truely want everyone to feel whether they are wearing Clive Street or not is to feel confident and comfortable in their bodies. Life is too short to worry about how we look - trust me I know, it’s annoying to hear but every single person deserves to feel confident in every way. I hope when people wear my items they feel proud of what they are wearing. I think Clive Street bags are something special, a little up myself I know haha, but having something that is sustainably made, from items that would be waste but now fashion and hand made in Brisbane Australia is something special. What can I say, I sorta love my brand.
SD: There’s so much pressure for designers to come out with their greatest collection season after season. What advice would you give to young designers just starting out and hoping to make it in the industry?
I sometimes still see myself as a young designer in the industry, it’s crazy to look back and see how long I have been doing this. Something that I always remind myself to do is to slow down. Not everything is a race and not everything has to be inline with everyone around you. I feel like it’s important to focus more on the quality of your pieces rather than to quickly get them out. There is a huge rush in everyone’s life to always be onto the next thing, wethers that be in their career, event or even in fashion - everyone wants the next best thing. I think it’s important to slow down, and I mean REALLY slow down. You’ve got to enjoy the process of making your pieces and I believe that if you enjoy making them then people will enjoy making them. Stay on your own timeline, you only have yourself to focus on.
Follow Clive Street on:
Website: http://www.clivestreet.com.au/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/clivestreet/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clivestreetau/
