Alix Higgins: What is it like having a fashion show for the first time?

You’ve just shown at Australian Fashion Week for the first time, how was this experience?

Really exhausting, overwhelming, rewarding, and an honour of sorts. I grew up here and know what a privilege it is, and felt it was the right time as well.

“It was important for me to surround myself at this moment with people who I feel protect me, day to day.” – Alix Higgins

What was behind your casting for this show?

My friends make up a big part of the show, including fellow designers like Amy Crookes and Mei Zhang, artist Chloe Corkran, and many many musicians – Joan Banoit, Solomon and Samuel Frank, Charlie Sundborn and Kyva. It was important for me to surround myself at this moment with people who I feel protect me, day to day. It was also about a focused vision of the future, my friends, a force of nature leading the way.

Two twin brothers walked in the show and a mother and son (Nina Treffkorn, a gallery owner in Sydney, and her son Max Snelling). It was important to make this moment as familial, and strong as it could be.

Talk us through the colour palette for the collection?

The colour palette rejects the colours I am known for – orange, baby blue, yellow and hot pink. I wanted to work with more muted and “adult” colours, soft sandy tones, beige, black and white. Occasionally there are injections of pink and green. The collection is a cartoonish vision of a desert odyssey, so there’s a desert rose, and a cactus. The colours a child would select to depict those things.

“Structuring a 29 piece collection challenges your thought processes too. Trying not to repeat yourself but getting every point across.” – Alix Higgins

What have you learnt from producing a 29-look collection?

It was hell! But I learnt a lot. Physically it was so demanding, even just for fitting days dragging those 29 looks from my studio apartment to a larger fitting space (China Heights gallery hosted us for this which I am forever grateful for). Structuring a collection that size really challenges your thought processes too. rying not to repeat yourself but getting every point across. It was like a puzzle, a game, finding all the right solutions.

And the set design for the show?

I worked with a set designer, Eleanor Ferguson who has a background in theatre. This was her first show as well. We wanted to communicate a desert wasteland, as if in a video game and things hadn’t quite loaded properly… so the textures are jagged, pixelated and warped, rock and sandy textures but otherworldly.

“I grew up online, I saw everything on a screen first. Before I visited museums as an adult, I saw fashion and art history on YouTube and Tumblr.” – Alix Higgins

Your garments blend the digital realm with tactile garments through their use of colour and print. What led you to print design?

I always saw fashion as an image first, with my formative years spent on the internet, particularly Tumblr where images, text, body and fashion all blend into one. The frenetic energy of that time is something I am always trying to distil. Print is also something I can do easily, and quickly. It became my career before establishing my brand. It’s suited to my personality and my skill set. It’s also about consolidating an identity over and over, which from a branding perspective interests me. How can I make floral Alix Higgins? How can I make camo, polka dot, etc… It’s always a fun challenge.

Was this influenced by your childhood and growing up as part of a digital generation?

Yes definitely. I grew up online, I saw everything on a screen first. Before I visited museums as an adult, I saw fashion and art history on YouTube and Tumblr.

“I’m not really inspired by youth as much as I am by identity and image. Those are eternal concepts.” – Alix Higgins

Have you found, because of this, that your work appeals to an increasingly younger generation, or is it broader?

I would say it’s young, yes. It’s Instagram-friendly in a sense, being so image-based and driven by that identity. This season was about trying to ‘grow up’. I’m 28, not 18 so I wanted to kind of reflect that. Something closer to my personal style and those around me who inspire me. I’m not really inspired by youth as much as I am by identity and image. Those are eternal concepts.

The sunset is a recurring theme throughout your work, what does this represent to you?

Freedom, expanse, openness. Nature and a screen.

Describe your studio setup…

A very messy and small studio apartment that I live in, and work from. I have a mannequin, my laptop and a domestic sewing machine.

Where do you work from?

I primarily work from home and occasionally use my printer’s space for cutting and sewing.

How big is the team?

Just I and I have one talented intern Jason Clark.

Could you briefly explain your fashion journey?

Yes. I studied fashion and textiles at UTS (University of Technology, Sydney). I majored in Menswear actually, but it was a genderless project which took inspiration from historical couture shapes but deflated and debased. I also had a huge focus on screen-print and colour. I interned for Josh Goot and very briefly Romance Was Born, before leaving Sydney and moving to Paris. In Paris, I completed my Masters at IFM in Womenswear and then worked as a print designer for Marine Serre.

“Maybe it is old-fashioned and naive, but I really think you can be successful and still treat your team and those around you with respect.” – Alix Higgins

What did you learn from your time spent at Marine Serre in Paris?

I learned a lot. The team was strong, and we were just doing what we wanted, really. There was no concept as such, just trying to capture the moment, to project a future.

I was mostly inspired by the designers – Lucille Clotilde Mosimann and Victoire Witdouck. The names of those under the creative director often go unknown, but they were really the heart of it for me and the driving forces.

I also learnt a lot about myself, who I was and what I wanted from fashion; my beliefs as to how one should act. Maybe it is old-fashioned and naive, but I really think you can be successful and still treat your team and those around you with respect. That wasn’t always the case and that is why I left.

“You hear success stories of those who didn’t study but they are almost always from insanely rich families and it is easy to do anything if you have money.” – Alix Higgins

How important is fashion education to you?

I think it’s extremely important. You hear success stories of those who didn’t study but they are almost always from insanely rich families and it is easy to do anything if you have money (because you can employ 30 people in your first season…)

My undergraduate and my masters provided me with extremely different perspectives which help shape my identity and approach to fashion and business today.

Where do you source your materials, and what’s the production process?

The nylon is from Italy, and the wool and cotton are from Australia. Everything is digitally printed in Sydney, Australia and made to order here as well. The process is slow and steady, I could definitely do things faster and much much cheaper but with a sacrifice to the quality which is not something I am really interested in. Even printing is a slow, slow process involving five unique steps.

“Doing print for other brands is a nice way for me to exercise my mind in regards to branding, to differentiate and expand my output in ways not possible in my own brand.” – Alix Higgins

What’s the reality of being a freelance fashion designer in Sydney?

I do some freelance textile design projects – for Coperni, Paolina Russo, Amy Crookes and a few others. I think COVID really opened people’s eyes to the possibilities of working remotely for projects such as this. Doing print for other brands is a nice way for me to exercise my mind in regards to branding, to differentiate and expand my output in ways not possible in my own brand.

What’s the future for Alix Higgins?

Hopefully, an independent one. Freedom to keep creating in this way. And organic growth. There have been some big opportunities I have turned down because I think the sense of fragility around the brand and the way I am working is what makes it special. And to evolve too rapidly would be to destroy that softness. So for now the future is bliss and freedom.