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US fashion success speaks volumes for returning Tome
They’ve conquered the US. Now New York-based Australian label Tome is returning home to headline Australian Fashion Week next month.
Designers Ramon Martin and Ryan Lobo have enjoyed a stratospheric rise in the US and beyond since launching their label there in 2011. In 2013 they were finalists in the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund, which not only gave them Anna Wintour’s ear and invaluable connections, but also saw them on TV screens as part of the accompanying documentary series, The Fashion Fund.
“It’s been incredible,” Martin said while visiting Sydney last week, during which the coveted Monday morning slot at Australian Fashion Week was finalised.
“The people we’re connecting with at this point of the business, these are all avenues available to us thanks to the CFDA and the Vogue Fashion Fund. Really what it’s demonstrated to us is that it’s so important to connect with a collective industry and we’ve done that in America.”
With a number of successful Australian labels, such as Zimmermann, Dion Lee and Ellery heading to international fashion weeks to show their wares, Martin is pleased to be doing the reverse.
“For us personally the next frontier is Australia, because we do have so many people that know us and support us and that we feel a connection with, so it’s about investing ourselves into that market as well and opening up those channels of communication.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the industry-based Australian Fashion Week, and its organisers are also excited to have Tome come home.
“Tome represents a very modern take on an Australian sense of luxury,” said Emily Weight, director of strategy and brand at IMG Fashion.
“They’re our most recent Australian brand to have such global success and are so strong in everything they’re doing. We’re thrilled to have them involved in this milestone year.”
The early success of the label has seen it picked up by major international retailers as well as a plethora of boutiques from the US to Europe and Asia, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Net-a-Porter.com, Club 21, Harvey Nichols, and Myer in Australia.
“We talk about ourselves as an American brand, it just happens that we’re Australian and those ties just don’t break,” Martin said. “We’re spoilt — we get the best of both worlds.”
As well as connecting with Australian industry and consumers, Martin also has some simpler hopes for their show. “We’re looking forward to having all the people that we love and have supported us from the beginning all in the one place to really celebrate fashion week. It’s a moment to have a creative party. You get together and you’re looking at beautiful clothes and people expressing their ideas and putting new things out there.”
