QUT alumna Sarah-Jane Clarke puts the "sass" into sass & bide, the iconic Australian fashion company which made fashion industry history last month when Myer paid $42.25 million for a 65 per cent stake in the company.
Ms Clarke (nicknamed Sass) was studying accounting at QUT in 1993 when she met graphic designer Heidi Middleton (nicknamed Bide).
Sharing a love of fashion and travel, the pair went to London and started customising jeans and selling them at Portobello Market while holding down "day jobs" in accountancy and advertising.
Just 12 years later, sass & bide's 2010 turnover was $37 million and the company has enjoyed a staggering 50 per cent sales growth over the past two years in the difficult post-GFC market.
The multi-million dollar acquisition gives Myer exclusive department store rights to distribute the brand which has 15 (and expanding)standalone retail stores in Australia and New Zealand, as well as a domestic and international wholesale network that includes the US, UK, Asia and the Middle East.
Ms Clarke, who received the Faculty of Business award and the Young Achiever award in the 2004 QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards, said teaming up with Myer would take sass & bide to the next level of business growth.
"We are very excited to be partnering with Myer. This partnership will help Heidi and I realise the dream we had for sass & bide when we sold our jeans in London," she said.
The co-founders will continue to lead the label's creative direction to retrain the brand's essence, Myer fashion and accessories group business manager Judy Coomber said.
"We are very excited to be partnering with Myer. This partnership will help Heidi and I realise the dream we had for sass & bide when we sold our jeans in London," she said.
The co-founders will continue to lead the label's creative direction to retrain the brand's essence, Myer fashion and accessories group business manager Judy Coomber said.
