Notes

Sass and Bide - The Aussie Designer Fashion Phenomenon
Edgy, urban denim and fierce party wear may be the signature of Sass & Bide. This designer fashion label is preferred from the young and chic, avoiding anything stuffy and formal, all night for finger-on-the-pulse, flamboyant and fun street style, inspired by vintage clothing and vibrant markets all over the world.
Theirs can be an inspiring rags to riches story, in case a stall in London's Portobello Market can be called rags (... it's certainly the best end in the rag trade!), quickly progressing to regular shows at New York and London fashion weeks and making in onto Australia's rich-list already in 2006.
Australian friends, Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke, traveled to London after their studies (Sarah- Jane, nicknamed Sass, qualified being an accountant, and Heidi, Known as Bide, was an art director. They started selling customized jeans in Portobello market in the late 1990's and inspired by this success, returned to Sydney on 1999. Here Ladies Wrangler Jeans collected a following and showed at Australian Fashion Week in 2001. By the the coming year these were ready to show in the prestigious London Fashion Week.
Their international success really kicked off in 2002. They happened to be in New York and serendipitously coincided using the filming of some scenes from Sex within the City. Passing the set on the way to an appointment, they got a burglar alarm guard to pass through on a single with their distinctive denim jackets to at least one in the stars. The star loved it, looked at their other designs and commissioned some one-off pieces to the show. This publicity propelled the label to stardom and from then until 2009, Sass & Bide showed at New York Fashion week with a devoted clientele of celebrities and young urban fashionistas. They only moved their catwalk show to London in 2009 when Sarah-Jane was expecting her third child.
While it's their embellished denim that originally made their name, (remember fondly the customized jeans which they started with?), they now have three lines S&B, Sass and Bide and Sass and Bide Denim, and are aren't afraid to play with hot colour and lots of bling. Their latest fall/winter 2011 collection is eye-catching oranges and hot pinks, which has a touch of citrus yellow the one cooler note.
Where to obtain Sass & Bide designs? Their own boutiques are all inside the Australian cities, and Australian department store Myers, recently bought shares in the label and are stocking them. The more prestigious shops in New York and London stock Sass & Bide, and the duo are arranging a London stand-alone boutique for 2012. Some with the top online designer fashion stores also stock selected Sass & Bide pieces so look out for them there, if 'young and trendy' describes your lifestyle.
Here's my website: https://www.jeanwarehouse.com.au/