BRING TO LIGHT
As Oroton continues its push in a whole new direction, creative director Sophie Holt has added a fully fledged clothing line, and with it a chance to rethink modern Australian style. By Alice Birrell.
As Oroton continues its push in a whole new direction, creative director Sophie Holt has added a fully fledged clothing line, and with it a chance to rethink modern Australian style.
IN THE FASHION realm, taking up the mantle of creative director at an established name can seem an onerous task. Add to that the launching of the label’s clothing line, in which it has little to no track record, and you have a potentially daunting proposition. Sophie Holt, however, is imperturbable. As the newly appointed helmswoman (in the role for under a year) renewing the formerly flailing Oroton label, she is fittingly upfront in a position where stakes are high but creativity needs to flow.
“With Oroton, they’d been in administration,” she offers quick off the mark, referring to the widely known period in which the company necessarily had to take the step in 2017 to combat falling sales. “We’ve really all taken a giant leap and we had to do something bold. This is about taking a point of view and really going for it. I don’t think waiting and growing it slowly was what we had in mind.” She has used the analogy of stepping off a precipice as the readyto-wear collection launches this month, and today, at a cafe between meetings on a rainy day in Sydney’s Surry Hills – she is up on one of her bi-monthly trips from her base in Melbourne – she is poised to do so.
Dressed head-to-toe in neutrals, with a bag of her own design resting on the table, she is collected but has a flash of energy behind her eyes when she speaks of her plans. “I had a very strong attachment or an alliance with the values of the brand and what it stood for. So I felt I could easily understand how to make an apparel version of that,” she explains. Bags and scarves, her first designs for Oroton, launched into store in February, and she is confident with the response she has gotten thus far.
“We’ve had a good reaction. I think you can really tell that there’s a different feeling to Oroton. There’s more colour, some unexpected shapes. Canvas, straws, scarves, all of that. So it’s a lot less stiff.” In a short period she has introduced more warmth via texture, cleaner lines and shapes that are more directional, like sculptural bucket bags and straw basket clutches. Hardware is cleaner and thoughtfully placed and includes a curved D-shape clasp on a shoulder bag for day, echoing the same soft gold clips on its detachable shoulder strap.
But how does this translate to clothing? In a showroom a few weeks earlier, she is lifting pieces off racks to explain. There is a honeyed shade of buff, terracotta, sky blue and burgundy with incursions of white as a palette cleanser. There is linen, leather, heavy cotton and light silks. Trenches – one in neutral, the other in a bold picnic blanket check of red, orange and white – are a point of orientation, with utilitarian pockets in slightly overblown shapes. “One of the great things about [Oroton] is this whole side of functionality and I think that translates well into utility,” explains Holt. “They make you look at the history of the brand.”
Founded by Boyd Lane in 1938 as a fabric importer, Oroton began making bags made from metal mesh that many Australian women remember owning for
“I think you can really tell there’s a different feeling to Oroton. There’s more colour, some unexpected shapes. Canvas, straws, scarves, all of that”
keeping their possessions safe on a night out. “It’s got that bright story so therefore I think a vintage element was another important part,” says Holt. In design details this has meant covered snap buttons as on a supple all-leather shirtdress in soft tan, as well as D-rings and piping. “We’re not a frilly brand and we know we’re not a street brand, so there are parameters that we will always stick within.”
She sees it sitting in a contemporary price bracket, with entry-level pieces beginning around the $100 mark, and coats around $800. Some fabrics are currently being sourced from Italy, with scarves made in Lake Como. Jewellery has also been added to the mix, while other categories will be explored in future – knits, staples like T-shirts – but first traction needs to be established. The focus will be transseasonal, rather than investing in heavy seasonality, a plus of the Australian climate that could equal versatility worldwide. Along with the quality the brand was known for, she is keeping the ‘O’ mark, weaving it into the new language.
Though it is a little known fact that Oroton turned its hand to clothing before – dabbling in leather jackets and knits, and once, in 2012, staging a full runway show for Australian fashion week – this is the first time there has been an entire design team dedicated to it. Clothing is based in Melbourne, bags in Sydney. Holt keeps in touch via the video conferencing app Zoom around three times a day, which she jokes might be too often. “The girls are right there and it honestly feels like you’re in the room with them.” She lays fabric and colour swatches out on the floor until she can see the whole picture and imagine it in store.
“It might be because I’ve always worked for big retailers that I operate like this,” she says of thinking about how the customer will encounter each piece, how it will hang on the racks. “It’s from knowing how hard it is to sell things, and being fearful of failure.” Working her way through big Australian retailers, she started her own brand Elle B at 25, but always thought from the wearer’s perspective. “It’s about bringing the brand message to life clearly so the customer can see it at every touch point.”
The diversification into clothing makes sound business sense to Holt. “How often do you buy a handbag? Maybe, three times a year?” She poses. “It was a real opportunity to tell the whole story.” It is also an avenue to move down away from the past, saying that while she wants to retain customers, she is excited about attracting new ones, including those who didn’t grow up with Oroton. “You know, my daughter hadn’t really even heard of it before,” she says. “She had no knowledge of whether it was good or bad; it was a new brand to her.” Holt will be tracking how the clothing is received, tweaking, refining, but for now she is trusting instinct. “Have a vision for the brand and where you’re going,” she says as a key to success. “Never second-guess the path. I’m always second-guessing myself and whether it’s good enough, but I’m never secondguessing the actual direction.”