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If you’re over 35 and live in Australia chances are Sass & Bide was a big part of your style awakening. Perhaps you’re still triggered by the name, having visions of standing in 1999’s two-hour long queue outside a Marrickville factory with the promise of half-price East Village jeans. Or the super low-rise camel corduroys you wore with side-tie scarves and halter tops. Or your complete devotion to Black Rats and any top with a drop-waist and a sequinned sternum. But enough about me.
Well, Sass & Bide is back. But not as you know it. This is no longer the home of original founders Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton. Since they sold the business to Myer in 2013 it has been designed in house undergoing a variety of different looks and this season, the company has appointed Marnie Skillings as creative director. The Australian designer ran her eponymous label from 2000 until 2012 which was known for its vivacious approach to maximalist fashion. Now, combining her own aesthetic with a nostalgia for original Sass & Bide, Skilling’s first collection debuted this week.
Named Jungle Teddy Punks, the show drew into the season’s rave-core niche but with a kind of Patricia Field dress-up’s accent. Wild, clashing ensembles that celebrated Millenia fads such as tees and tutus, big power shoulders, rock-slogan t-shirts and sheer lace overlays played alongside prints like oversized Monstera leaves, illustrated drawing pins, zodiac stencils and island silhouettes. Accessories were bold and bright, too – loud platform heels, laser-cut mega-earrings and Kermit-green patent boots.
There were some nods to the Sass & Bide of yore – denim pencil skirts with matching coats as well as super-sequinned separates in glitzy Art Deco patterns but mostly it was a turn towards the new and after-hours scene-stealers. Large gowns in layered tulle made glam-rock statements while fun, ruffled party pieces paired with metallic cowboy boots gave a type of punky Isabel Marant. The backlit, spot-lit runway helped ignite the drama of the collection as did the Pink Floyd-style light prism that opened the show.
“With such an incredibly rich brand history and archive, the starting place for the collection was obviously looking to what we are best known for, and then finding a way to make it fresh and relevant for today,” Skillings tells GRAZIA. “Sass & Bide has a huge cult following and we wanted to honour our loyal customer, but also find new ways to look at how we evolve. Through the design process I found inspiration from the Teddy Boys of the 1950s who set the creative minds of a generation alive, hence the name ‘Jungle Teddy Punks’. The collection embodies the high energy Sass & Bide magic we’ve all come to know and love, featuring a daring mix of optimistic and vibrant neon greens, oranges and bright clashing prints – all hand-drawn in house by sass & bide graphic artists and designers.”
This is a departure for the brand but one that saw plenty of cheers from the crowd in attendance. There’s a lot of minimalism around again this season, so Skillings’ case for the ‘more-is-more’ makes for a welcome balance.
“There is no doubt that the last two years have been really hard on everyone however, there is a new found optimism and hope for the world opening up again which makes the timing for the show feel really authentic,” says Skillings. “We are known for bringing life, colour and energy to our customer’s wardrobes and in turn their lives.”
“The rules have changed, there is no longer a need for an occasion to get dressed up and this collection celebrates this new found optimism and spirit.”
