During New York Fashion Week I’ve seen international buyers,beauty executives and stylists scramble for time with the Australian designer of the Rebecca Vallance label,holding court in the bougie brasserie Pastis in the Meatpacking District. Back in Sydney,Vallance-Gasan’s name is missing from the list of nominations in the Best Designer category at the Australian Laureate,as it often is from the credits of fashion shoots in luxury magazines.
Australian designer Rebecca Vallance-Gasan between meetings with buyers at New York Fashion Week in September.Marcos Fecchino
“I feel a sense of being understood more in New York,” Vallance-Gasan says. “I had to prove myself overseas before anyone would take me seriously here in Australia,and I don’t think I’m the first person to say that.”
Veteran designer Alex Perry has been vocal about the lack of support he received in Australia,in comparison to “cool” designers,despite operating a successful business for 30 years. Vallance is sticking with dress diplomacy.
“We found success overseas quickly,but Australia is a slower burn,” Vallance-Gasan says. “I love that we have such a big following internationally,and I’m grateful for it.”
The Nikita gown from Rebecca Vallance’s Holiday collection.Supplied
That slow burn is sizzling,with business from four Australian stores growing by 100 per cent year-on-year,according to internal reports from the brand’s partners Hotsprings,which also works with activewear brand. International stockists of Rebecca Vallance now include German e-commerce giant Mytheresa,Net-a-Porter,Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus,with 60 per cent of online sales coming from US customers.
“We first learned about Rebecca Vallance through social media and were immediately hooked,” says Tiffany Hsu,Mytheresa,vice president of womenswear.
“We have been stocking the brand for around five years now,and it continues to perform for us every season.”
“Rebecca’s collections are present in many of the best stockists globally. To me,it’s not a household name but someone you know when you are interested in fashion and the beauty of ultra-feminine dresses with a cool vibe.”
Buyers from the US,the largest market for Rebecca Vallance are equally effusive in their praise.
“Rebecca Vallance offers beautiful feminine dresses,while sprinkling in cool tailored pieces,” says Kelly Shen,dress collections’ buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue “It’s perfect for the NYC girl.”
Kind words and big accounts are satisfying but compared to peers such as Camilla and Marc,Aje and Sir,Rebecca Vallance is rarely selected from stylists for shoots in Australia.
Australian Laureate award winners Rebecca Vallance,Ken Done,Robert Sebastian Grynkofki,Camilla Freeman-Topper,Marc Freeman,Laura Thompson and Lesleigh Jermanus attend the Australian Fashion Laureate 2022 at Museum of Contemporary Art on November 22.Getty
The obstacles to “cool kid” status are as in-your-face as Vallance-Gasan’s floral prints and diamanté trims. At industry events I have heard Vallance derided as a former fashion publicist,from her time working with PR powerhouse Nikki Andrews. She has also been called a cashed-up housewife,following her marriage to successful businessman David Gasan in 2010.
“No one is going to buy a dress because of my home life or because of what I used to do for a living,” Vallance-Gasan says. “They will buy it if they feel like their most beautiful self in my clothes.”
“I’ve worked hard. I’m a country girl from Ballarat and that’s how I was raised. When I started I had to learn all areas of the business,except for pattern-making,never ask me to do that.”
“For 13 years I’ve had blinkers on to make this an international brand. I try not to sit here worrying about what people are thinking. I try to look ahead.”
It’s easier to think about New York,where Vallance is working on a SoHo store,while finalising the lease deal of a London boutique. In the next 12 months more stores are planned for Australia as the business recovers from the COVID-19 lockdown,when wholesale orders dropped by 40 per cent.
“Even then I knew that this is what I wanted to do and that I would somehow get through,” Vallance -Gasan says. “Now our wholesale is double our pre-COVID levels.”
At the Australian Laureate,Vallance has her moment at the lectern,in front of some of fashion’s “cool set” when she receives the People’s Choice Award,voted for by the public.
Her speech is greeted by polite applause in comparison to the enthusiastic claps for Best Designer award winner’s Camilla and Marc. Later that night on a phone call a fashion publicist asks me,“Can you believe that Rebecca Vallance won an award...?”
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