Courtney holm
Aka: A.BCH mission: eco-friendly clothing
Courtney Holm wouldn’t blame you for feeling a bit puzzled about what ‘sustainable’ means these days. The designer behind the Melbourne-based label A.BCH sees the descriptor bandied about so often – without much evidence to back it up – that she thinks it’s lost all meaning. “I really try to avoid that word, because it confuses people,” she says. “I like to be really specific with what I’m talking about, whether it’s sustainability in relation to running a no-waste business, the fair treatment of workers, or eco-friendly fabrics.” Courtney is a fashion designer by trade, but by her own admission, perhaps more of an activist. By running her own ethical label, she’s also showing the fashion industry how to reduce its toll on the planet and its people. She began A.BCH in 2017, after an existential crisis of sorts. Managing another fashion business in 2015, she finally threw her hands up. “I felt like I had no control over the supply chain or the waste issues I was seeing,” Courtney says. “I was like, ‘I need to get out of fashion all together!’”
After a break, she returned to the industry with a resolution to challenge it head-on. “I thought, ‘What if I started a label that was the absolute opposite of everything the industry is about right now?’” Courtney insisted A.BCH be fully traceable. It was a lofty task – supply chains can be terrifyingly convoluted and suppliers notoriously guarded – but she wanted to know (and tell customers) exactly where each part of an A.BCH garment was created; how every thread was grown, spun, milled, dyed and sewn; which company supplied each part; and what the workers at each point in the supply chain were being paid. On top of this was her desire for every piece to be natural and biodegradable.
“It was super-challenging, because I had no brand history,” Courtney remembers. “I’d be communicating with a wholesaler who couldn’t verify what was happening at the source, trying to convince them I wasn’t out to expose their secrets.” After a year of hunting suppliers who could meet her criteria, she landed on a few trusty businesses, including some certified by GOTS (the Global Organic Textile Standard), which confirms living wages and environmental responsibility at every step.
Circularity is at the heart of A.BCH’S mission. To Courtney, that means having a no-waste production process (she’s saved every fabric scrap since inception, and is currently working on a system to mechanically recycle materials); designing pieces that go the distance; and ensuring clothing can break down when it’s finally thrown out, without harming the Earth. When you buy a piece from A.BCH, you’re armed with a care manual listing laundry tips for extending its lifespan. When it’s no longer wearable, you can simply cut it up and bury it in the garden, or send it back to A.BCH HQ, where it will be broken down or recycled. (Just don’t send it to landfill – a toxic environment where it will struggle to decompose.) Overall, Courtney’s not sold on running a business that’s about encouraging endless consumption. So, A.BCH offers free repairs for life, holds frequent repair workshops, and has a marketing strategy aimed at encouraging customers to “fall in love with the garment you already have, rather than buying something new.” There are no ‘seasonal’ drops of clothing, either – just a set of wardrobe staples updated if and when Courtney feels it’s necessary. If that all sounds antithetical to running a fashion business, that’s because it is. “I’m looking for ways to survive that are not just about growing endlessly and selling more clothes every season,” Courtney says. “You can grow, but if you’re harming the Earth in the process… why? There’s no fashion on a dead planet.”