Bringing the Chariot Back into Fashion

By Annette Lin, May 2009

Glebe is an artist’s haven – a bohemian, slightly hippy ambience permeates the suburb. Chariot, a small and very – there’s no other word for it – pretty fashion boutique, nestled amongst the op-shops and cafes that line Glebe Point Road, has none of that ambience. What it does have in common with those other stores is a sense of community. There is a discernable familiarity amongst visitors to the store and when the fifth student walks in it clicks – they’re all students.

Not only is Simone Rayner, my sales assistant for the day, a student from the Fashion Business College (FBI) upstairs, so are most of the people who pop their heads through the door. Nearly everyone involved in the store’s daily operations is a student, including the buying team, the interior designer, the visual merchandisers and the marketers. And if they’re not, they used to be.

This explains why Simone refers to all of the designers by their first names – Aaron, Jayne, Kassandra… The true depth of the connection is revealed when Simone points out she’s wearing a pair of jeans from Kassandra Scardino’s label, Finn Denim, as we speak.

“I love these jeans!” she says and takes me over to the shelf where the jeans are displayed. Two pairs are hung next to each other and cuffed to show their best feature –they’re reversible. The pair that Simone’s wearing is black on one side and a grungy, motley grey on the other.

Profile of Aaron

Aaron O’Brien
Designer, Adam No Eve. more>

But these are more than just gimmicky clothes. Like most of the other products stocked in the store, they present something different, visionary, yet wearable and well-made. And they sort of make you want to give Scardino and the other students a chance. I find myself asking, ‘What else can they offer?’

That’s part of what Chariot is all about – giving the students a chance to get their stuff out there, to prove to both the public and the fashion industry that they have the skills, the ideas and the passion to make it.

This unique store also gives designers an insight into what it’s like to work in the world of fashion before making a complete entry into the industry – it offers help and support before the turbulence takes hold. As Scardino admits, “It’s really daunting to get out there without any help.”

FBI Careers and Marketing Assistant, Alyssa Casale, says, “We thought, by guiding our students through encouragement and support, they would be able to get to where they dream.”

“For the students, having their own creations sold to the public is a dream come true… Due to popular demand we have Chariot open on more days, the whole of the first season has practically been sold out and the industry recognition alone has been amazing. Just being able to have a store where students can sell their very own merchandise is a massive achievement, right?”

For some it really has paid off. As Finn Denim has only been stocked in the store for one season, Scardino hasn’t been able to gauge how well it’s gone down with the public. But Aaron O’ Brien of Adam No Eve, a men’s accessories label, says the store has allowed him to test his market. “We put cufflinks in there and they ended up selling. Unless these girls are wearing masculine cufflinks, then they’re buying it for their partners and their dads or whoever.”

While Simone says that guys do go into the store, the girly, French-inspired trés jolie decor obviously doesn’t help. But Aaron says if there’s one thing about the store he wants to stress it’s that guys shouldn’t be afraid to go in. “Even if it looks like a feminine store, I’d still encourage guys to walk in. They’ve got some great denim in there for guys and that sort of stuff,” he says. “It’s definitely a store to look out for.”

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