Most Sunday mornings you’ll find me at the beach; a swim, surf and then great coffee at The Crabbe Hole. Give me watching the waves over reading the paper any day.
Not last Sunday. Alannah Hill beckoned; I absolutely had to read the story about her re-invention!
Alannah Hill is nothing short of Amazing!
There is a great article if you want to read the SMH article
Why do I think she is amazing?
Certainly not for the “Huge Gaff” she made regarding DJs’ Mark McInnes. There is however a lesson for all of us in how she recovered with her “sorry sale” demonstrating her ability to make good a mistake.
Her story is inspiring! Born in the early 1960’s in a family of seven “crammed into a two-bedroom shack in rural Tasmania” there certainly doesn’t appear to be anyone or anything that encouraged her creativity. She escapes to Melbourne when she is 17 and after a few less than fabulous jobs she meets designed Jill Gould who is impressed by “Hill’s warmth and attitude”. Jill Gould employs Alannah at Indigo, her boutique in Chapel Street. It is 15 years later that Alannah Hill leaves to launch her own label.
The label was iconic and still is, just that now the label is without the person, Alannah Hill. The past 2-3 years have been extremely difficult for her with her mother passing away and the 17 year business relationship with Factory X coming to an end when there was a difference of opinion about the future of the label and the business.
As a business person myself I observed the dilution of the Alannah Hill brand and wondered why she would do that. I remember walking into an Alannah Hill store a few years ago in Melbourne and thinking “There are way too many of these dresses to continue to warrant the $$ price tag.” If I bought an Alannah Hill “piece” I would not expect to sit beside myself on the bus. With so many stores and such mass production, the brand certainly was diluted and if I bought something the chance of seeing it on some one else was significantly increased.
Seems Alannah felt the same way so she parted company with her own label – brave move!
And now she’s back.
“Louise Love” is her new brand, her new label, and is expected to open mid-year. There will be an online store followed by retail stores.
Sounds exciting to me. Well done Alannah Hill!