Behind The Brand
Our Story
Meaning “you” in French, VOUS is an Australian slow fashion label which creates ready to wear womenswear and accessories that explore the concepts of beauty, the natural environment, and you.
The VOUS label was created in 2013 by Renee Verdon, who after studying at The Fashion Design Studio, Sydney Institute; began her journey towards creating a non-trend driven ethical fashion brand. The brand advocates for a slow fashion approach to garment design with a strong emphasis on the use of quality natural fabrics, ethical production and unique contemporary design.
Each garment is designed for women who love beautiful high quality fabrics and interesting silhouettes that have a contemporary feel.
All VOUS pieces are proudly made in Australia and each garment is produced with longevity in mind. This means that when you invest in a VOUS piece you are receiving a unique garment that has been thought through from its lining to external finish.
Our Ethics
What is slow fashion and why is VOUS a slow fashion label?
Slow fashion is a term that refers to considered design, smaller production runs and the production of quality longer lasting garments. This is in contrast to fast fashion which is trend driven- resulting in a high turn-over of garments which are predominately poor quality. Fast fashion has a negative impact on the planet- from the landfill/waste that it creates, to the social inequity in garment production factories, fast fashion poses serious ethical issues to the garment manufacturing industry.
VOUS has chosen to be a slow fashion label in order to make a stand against the issues related to fast fashion. We consider both our environmental impact and fair work conditions at each stage of our garments' creation. Our focus is to provide customers with contemporary designs that use high quality fabrics so that they become treasured pieces in your wardrobe, not landfill after one season’s wear.
Where are VOUS garments designed and made?
All garments are designed in-house in Newcastle NSW. Production occurs in Sydney by small family businesses that are 100% Australian owned. Keeping our relationships within the Australian manufacturing industry enables us to truly monitor each stage of a garments creation.
What is the process of making a VOUS garment?
VOUS currently offers two collections per year- Autumn/Winter and Resort/Summer. This is in contrast to fast fashion labels that produce hundreds of new styles a season. The process of creating a VOUS collection begins with a design concept that references nature. Relevant information regarding colour and imagery is then collected. Individual garment designs are created by abstracting from these images and objects. Fabric sourcing, pattern making, toiling, grading, sampling and production then occur. VOUS produces less than 10 garments per style per season, meaning that your purchase is truly unique.
Where do you source VOUS fabrics?
VOUS sources each season’s fabrics through a number of Australian wholesalers. We focus on using natural fibers, some of which are organic in origin. Our woven fabrics originate from offshore, as Australia simply does not have the fabric manufacturing industry to create these fabrics. In addition, dead-stock fabrics are used in our designs. These are rolls of fabric that are left over from wholesalers or mills. VOUS is able to use these types of fabrics as our production runs are small.
How does VOUS attempt to minimize waste?
VOUS attempts to minimise waste in two main ways; by creating long wearing garments that will take pride of place in your wardrobe for years to come, and by creating our Zero Waste accessories from left over materials that would otherwise be sent to landfill.