Earlier this month, I was privileged to meet the up-and-coming Melbourne fashion designer, Samantha Gehrich, a seriously stylish Melbourne girl with an admirable ambition and passion for life and fashion.
Sam grew up on a hobby farm in Tasmania. Her weekends were spent with siblings exploring through bracken fern and swimming in the waterholes. Around the age of 13, Sam was given a Husqvarna sewing machine and her mother’s old collection of patterns. Teaching herself to sew while listening to six o’clock rock on the radio was a memorable milestone on her journey to becoming a fashion designer.
Meet Melbourne fashion designer, Samantha Gehrich
Sam explains, “Growing up on a farm meant jeans and a tee were considered dressing up, so this is one reason why I gravitated towards making coats. They dress an outfit up without even trying.”
At 19, Sam moved from Tasmania to the big smoke of Sydney to study fashion. Three years and a degree later, she headed down to Melbourne to be closer to family and to start her career in the fast paced fashion industry. Together with Chris Thomas, Sam founded and last year launched her namesake label, Gehrich.
Gehrich is an eternal outerwear label, producing luxurious designer coats for both men and women. The Gehrich studio is located in the Docklands Cotton Mills, an iconic pocket of Melbourne which reminds me a lot of New York’s Meatpacking District, a historic and artistic hub, which provides the perfect environment for a designer to ‘be at work’.
The brand and quality of garment reflect the true essence of Melbourne design, encapsulating a unique style, with a strong focus on original design and exceptional materials.
Unlike the fast fashion approach, Gehrich champion the values of creativity in design, timeless style and quality over quantity to produce pieces that can be loved and enjoyed season after season.
Gehrich live for the journey from concept to coat hanger and that journey begins in Melbourne. The first collection is made up of outerwear styles aptly named Brunswick, Fitzroy, Abbotsford, Northcote, Kensington, Richmond, Carlton and Heidelberg.
Their ultimate goal is to put Melbourne on the map for coats and luxury outerwear. Gehrich want to offer people designer fashion with an exclusive feel, a timeless style made with exceptional quality in both material and construction, a true investment piece that can be loved and worn season after season.
They believe that less is more. Collection sizes and production numbers are purposely limited in order to create a more exclusive and sustainable brand.
So the only question is, which suburb are you?
Shop the collection online now at www.gehrich.co
Post brought to you by Nuffnang and Gehrich.