Amina, three-year-old daughter of Seddon fashion designer and businesswoman Clare Goodwin, loves wearing her mother’s clothing. 74583 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Alesha Capone
A QUEST to find clothes for her red-haired daughter led to Clare Goodwin creating her own fashion label.
In 2008 – shortly after her little girl Amina was born – the Seddon businesswoman established the ‘A-minor’ brand, consisting mainly of T-shirts and singlets for children, teenagers and adults, plus bodysuits for babies.
“I wanted clothes which suited her bright red locks and everything in shops was so naff, so frilly, lacy and over-bedazzled, and I wanted to make a bold statement with clothes which weren’t really gender specific,” Ms Goodwin said.
The young mother said she did not want to dress Amina like many children, who seem to be wearing clothes from an adult wardrobe.
“I want my little girl geared up for jumping puddles and mudcakes, not high tea and going to rock gigs, she’s only three,” she said.
Ms Goodwin said with a musician partner and their shared passion for music, she naturally began designing clothes for children which featured prints such as a record turntables, a drummer boy, a marching band and the A-minor chord.
“We just wanted really bold and vintage silhouettes,” she said.
“We sell heaps to DJs, musicians and guitarists.”
Nowadays, she sells her clothes online, at markets and shops in Anglesea, Geelong and North Fremantle.
Ms Goodwin said it was important to offer people sustainable clothing, so A-minor clothes are made with 100 per cent organic cotton certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard.
Furthering her enthusiasm for environmentally-friendly fashion, Ms Goodwin has also created the ‘A-minor Sacrifice’ T-shirt line for adults.
They feature her screen-printed designs on op-shop T-shirts, which will be sold at the Pop Up Shop in Northcote until Christmas.
“We’re buying T-shirts from op-shops across Australia and I’ve got all my family on the lookout,” Ms Goodwin said.
Ms Goodwin is donating $2 from each T-shirt sold to the Australian Children’s Music Foundation, which offers music programs to disadvantaged children.
See www.a-minor.com.au, Facebook or call 8060 8060 for more information.
