Origin of the brand

1992Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton met in college and became close friends over their shared love of re-creating vintage pieces into their own style.

1999• They started Sass & Bide. The name

comes from their nicknames for eachother.

• ‘Sass’ is Heidi’s nickname for Sarah and ‘Bidey’ is Sarah’s nickname for Heidi.

• With a $70,000 loan from a friend, they took off for England to try their luck selling their quirky, customised three-quarter-length jeans at London's Portobello Road markets.

Origin of the brand

2001• With the launch of their skintight and super-

low-slung jeans, their business skyrocketed.

• They debuted at Australian Fashion Week.

2003• After meeting Sarah Jessica Parker, who wore

their clothes on Sex and the City, they made their international debut at London Fashion Week.

• Clarke and Middleton sold 50% of sass & bide to past owners of the Mimco accessories chain, Daniel Besen and David Briskin, with Briskin taking up the role as chief executive.

2011• Australian department store chain, Myer

purchased a 65% stake in the label for AU $42.2 million.

Brand ideals

• The sense of free-spirited confidence & contradiction that defines their personal sense of style.

• Inspired by the strangely wonderful. Their collections have a deliberately mixed aesthetic that draws on a myriad of cultures.

• Sass & bide will open its first international flagship store on New York’s Broome Street in two weeks.

• The label currently has 20 Australian boutiques and 20 concessions in Myer department stores.

“We are very excited to be opening our first flagship store in New York on Broome Street, set to open early November 2013. We want to provide our

loyal followers an intimate shopping experience, to immerse themselves into the Sass & Bide brand. For Heidi and I this is a realization of a very big

dream… It’s the cherry on top!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_omjvXTRFY

U.S. Expansion

Peculiarities

• They are apart of the Ethical Fashion Initiative - a joint body of the United Nations and World Trade Organization - in a long-term bag-making project committed to empowering the women of East Africa.

• For their first project, design duo Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton created a limited-edition shopper and clutch, produced from sustainably sourced materials that were then transformed by local African artisans.

• “Each bag employs around 100 women. Some will do the beading, some will do the weaving – every community has their skill,” Clarke told Vogue Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg_wpH-Q00Y

Brand touch-points

• Expansion into the U.S. market

• Social Media campaigns using Coco Rocha & Suki Waterhouse

• Switching from London Fashion Week to NYFW

• Man Repeller

Brand touch-points

• The social media campaign, which marks the launch of the label's e-tail site in America

• Using popular American model, Coco Rocha, 24, take over the label's social media accounts for five days from January 28.

• Posting shots of her Sass & Bide outfits on-the-go - check out our exclusive video.

Brand architecture

Brand ExtensionsMade with love in Africa

Advertisement campaigns

Greaty 180

The Future of Now

Sing, Brother

Sources

http://www.sassandbide.com/the-story/

http://billabout.com/at-home-by-the-fire-with-sass-bides-heidi-middleton/

http://www.harpersbazaar.com.au/news/fashion-buzz/2011/9/qa-with-sass-bide/

http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/03/aussie-label-trying-to-make-it-in-america.html

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/phong-luu/TMG9825187/Coco-Rocha-gets-social-for-new-Sass-and-Bide-campaign.html

http://www.eonline.com/news/457816/sass-bide-makes-new-york-fashion-week-runway-return-watch-the-video

http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/03/aussie-label-trying-to-make-it-in-america.html