AFW: In Conversation with Sophia McMahon

autark designer and Director Sophia McMahon idolised her late grandmother’s attention to detail when it came to making beautiful garments for her grandchildren. Sophia never thought she would be able to sew the way she did, so instead pursued a career in speech pathology. In 2013, she left that life behind and went to TAFE to study fashion design. By February 2016, she created slow fashion label, autark. ADL Fashion Week caught up with the designer, who says her grandmother would be proud to see her participate in the event.

Where did your passion for the fashion industry begin?

It probably started with my Nanna who would make a lot of clothes for the family, especially us grandkids. She was an incredible sewer whereas I was not the best, so I thought I would never be involved in the fashion industry. Instead, I started working as a speech pathologist, but I decided to give the creative industry a little bit of a try after doing [speech pathology] for about five years. I went to TAFE and learnt to sew, so that was an amazing base for me.

How was the brand autark born?

After I finished studying at TAFE I really wanted to work for brands that had a really strong ethical base and foundation, but still provide a beautiful design aesthetic. I couldn't really see this in the market six years ago — that’s why I started the brand. A brand that I really wanted to work for. The brand has changed a little bit as I've moved along and kind of discovered, used, explored and experimented with fabrications. But the ethos will always remain the same — to celebrate the value of clothing because I feel like a lot of that has been lost with fast fashion and trends.

Describe autark’s vibe

In terms of the style, I call it minimal maximalism. That idea of contrasting silhouette and shape, but still making pieces quite simple and classic so that they can be worn for a really long period of time and not go out of style. I use really beautiful shell details on pieces to enhance their beauty. It has a little bit of a masculine edge, but there is a lot of femineity as well. So you would say lots of contrast. I use a lot of block colours but I am also starting to dabble in prints.

You’re working out of a City of Adelaide fashion pop-up — Fashion Est. — tell us about that

So we're a collective of six Adelaide designers who all work in really different ways to each other, yet still complement each other in this beautiful retail space here in North Adelaide Village. One of the best parts about the space is that we have this beautiful workshop area at the back. You can see that when you are in the store and watch us work away. They can watch us make our collections that will often come out on the floor for sale. It's a wonderful way for us to connect with the local community, as well as connect with each other, because I find the industry can often be a bit solitary. It's awesome for us to have that support and learn from each other. It's been an incredible experience. I don't have any stockists in Adelaide yet, only international and overseas, so this has been an awesome opportunity for me to see what people's reactions are to pieces as they come into the store.

Give us a rundown about slow fashion and natural fibres

We made a conscious decision to use exclusively natural fibres. It started out as more of an idea around comfort and ease of wear. But the more I learnt about microplastics from synthetic fabrics, especially through the laundering process, the more I became passionate about using only natural fibres. It's also important for me to make sure that those fibres themselves are sourced ethically. So we make sure we use fibres with accreditation, or that have been rated really well in terms of their production and their wearability. We use TENCEL which is created from regenerated wood pulp and the one we've used this year is from regenerated eucalypt trees.

What has been your career highlight to date?

It's been a few actually — I've been very spoiled. I'd say probably one of the biggest ones was to be nominated for the National Designer Award last year, which was an amazing experience. We've had the ability to show at various fashion weeks. We've shown at Australian Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Week, we were able to go over to Texas and show in Austin as well, which was fantastic. Those have all been incredible highlights to me. And I know this sounds a bit cliche, but every time I see someone wearing a piece and I see they absolutely love it is a highlight for me.

What role does fashion play in Adelaide?

I think that it plays more of a role than people might realise. I feel like there's actually a really strong fashion scene locally with a lot of potential, but I do feel like people might not be aware of its breadth and what is going on in the fashion scene. I feel with ADL Fashion Week we are getting an incredible opportunity to show off the scene again - really celebrate the local industry and shout about it. It’s so much of a thrill for me knowing that we are getting so many opportunities back through it.

What do you look forward to most about ADL Fashion Week?

I’m obviously excited about the speaking engagement with the beautiful film that will be showing. I love the opportunity to talk about fashion, especially slow fashion. But what I am most excited about is seeing creative people, in their element, doing what they love and doing it amazingly. Getting this platform — ADL Fashion Week — to showcase our talent is great.

Would Nanna be proud you are participating in ADL Fashion Week?

I hope so. I was able to kind of share a little bit of work that I'd done before she passed away and I think she was pretty stoked, which is awesome.