Sophie Holt. Photograph courtesy of Oroton. What does it take for an Australian fashion label to stand the test of time in one of the fastest-changing industries? For Sophie Holt, the creative director of Oroton, founded in 1938, the key to its enduring success lies in the element of surprise.
“Our customers have a deep affection for the brand, for the bags they’ve collected over the years and for the pieces that have been handed down to them. I love that it’s personal,” Holt tells T Australia. “We have worked hard in recent years to combine that personal connection with a sense of modernity, continually surprising our customers and providing them with solutions for life’s moments.”
The brand is renowned for its forever leather goods and statement pieces, from bold dresses to daring silhouettes. This can be seen in its current collection, highlights include a mint mini dress adorned with floral sequins, embodying the spirit of spring, alongside a silk shirt featuring a vintage botanical print that exudes elegance and charm.
Oroton’s latest line, Oroton Everyday, showcases a new dimension of the brand, focusing on essential items and everyday pieces, all maintaining the premium quality you’d expect.
“The concept was important to us — it is a concise collection of basics that work with the Oroton bags at a more accessible price point,” says Holt.
“For us, this collection is about encouraging our customers to dress with confidence, to feel good, to relax their thinking around fashion codes, and most importantly, to create a foundation of hardworking pieces.”
Part of the Everyday collection is available for purchase now, with more styles set to be released in the coming weeks. During this busy time, we stole a few moments with Holt, who shared her T Australia List.
Which local or emerging designers are you coveting right now?
“My mind runs to furniture design, I think because it’s a way to recharge and also because we are renovating our beach house. My latest obsession is sourcing vintage from local sellers such as Nicholas & Alistair, a Melbourne gallery space specialising in European antiques and rare finds. I’m also interested in the work of upcoming creatives such as Felix Grech, the Sydney-based set designer, who makes tables and chairs out of rock.”
If you could collaborate with any designer or brand, who would it be and why?
“My focus is on palette, it is always the starting point for our collections, so I would have loved the opportunity to have a conversation on colour with the Australian artist Clarice Beckett, I find her work so compelling. There is a simplicity to her paintings, her tonal work is extraordinary. The combinations of mid-strength pastels, the everyday suburban Australian scenes, her modernism. Evening Light, Beaumaris, which she painted around 1925, is a favourite, I love the pink sky, there is a humbleness to her work, a grace and simplicity.”
What’s your favourite holiday destination, and what draws you to it?
“For the last two years we have visited Ponza, a small Italian island south of Rome. You arrive on the ferry at a pretty harbour lined with pastel houses, which is where we hire an old wooden boat and sail around the clear waters – the island has beautiful rock formations and wildflowers, it’s very special. There is a restaurant on the water’s edge called La Mariner, a little seafood taverna on a rock and I love its simplicity. It’s a moment to take in the wild beauty of nature, and I’m also a boating person so anywhere I can get on a boat ticks a box for me.”
Is there a particular clothing item or accessory that you can’t live without?
“We are always wear-testing new pieces in the studio, so I have been drawn to our new Camp shirt from the Everyday range, made in cotton with ruffles down the front. It’s a classic white shirt for summer, but a more interesting version. I also have my eye on the Clara Wicker Mini Bag with a little gold ball attached. It’s a sculptural, simple form made in wicker, something that you would have forever. My grandmother [Dame Zara Holt] always carried a cane basket as her handbag so perhaps that’s why I love this one so much, but ours has sold out so I’m trying to get my hands on it.”
