Fitzroy-based Limedrop has gone from strength to strength since designers Clea Garrick and Nathan Price launched it in 2008 with just a handful of items. The label’s aesthetic combines unexpected features such as contrasting sleeves, exaggerated lengths and bold stripes and patterns. Price recently left the label but Garrick continues to produce a strong collection which capitalises on Limedrop’s strengths: colour, playfulness and irreverence. It’s a label without pretension. Explaining the inspiration behind her new collection, Avant Gardener, which debuts at LMFF, Garrick says: ‘‘It’s influenced by the beauty found in nature. There’s lots of really colourful floral print and we’re re-releasing our classic cloud drop print, which we launched in 2010.’’ When putting ideas together in her Gore Street studio, Garrick says she’s always thinking about who the Limedrop customer is. ‘‘They’re creative or interested in garments that have a lot of thought put into them,’’ she says. ‘‘I think the problem we have is too many ideas rather than too few. We never have trouble finding inspiration.’’ As a child, Garrick always wanted her own fashion line called Lime but when she was unable to register the name, she chose Limedrop instead. ‘‘It goes with our carefree approach.’’ Since its emergence in the mid-Since its emergence in the mid-noughties, Limedrop has made forays into a growing list of categories, including seamless underwear and jewellery. ‘‘There’s a quietness about the way we’ve developed, even though our designs are quite loud,’’ says Garrick. But while she explores new boundaries with her latest collection, Garrick says her favourite item is an ‘‘amulet’’ dress, with a lace bodice and pleated skirt, from her 2010 collection. ‘‘I just find myself in that all the time,” she says. “Some of the pieces are very day to night, and we’re trying to translate the casual Australian lifestyle, which often means going out at the drop of a hat.’’ Following LMFF, Garrick’s next ambitions for Limedrop include opening a stand-alone store and branching further into e-commerce. More trade shows, especially overseas, are also on the agenda, following the label’s successful turn at Perth’s National Designer Showcase in September. Minimisation. Clean lines. Understated. Sleek. These are the adjectives most often used about Fitzroy-based label LIFEwithBIRD. The brainchild of couple Bridget McCall and Nicholas Van Messner, the label has created a niche in the heavily populated homegrown market with its own take on the classic, relaxed Australian silhouette. In the 11 years since its launch, LIFEwithBIRD has opened five stores in Victoria, secured dozens of stockists across Australia and developed export markets in 10 countries, including Japan, Hong Kong and France. It’s a fast expansion in a fickle industry and the designers admit there have been a few mistakes along the way.