What is sass & bide? To paraphrase a great poet, "it is easier to catch the wind than it is to describe your beauty..."
sass & bide is so difficult to define in words, yet it is instantly recognisable to its many fans around the world. It has been described as a love of all things creative, a passion for individuality and freedom of expression, and the intuitive fusion of contradictory elements to form a beautiful whole. Perhaps, but more than anything else it is the realisation of a dream shared by best friends Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton . And the unrelenting pursuit of that dream, of remaining true to your own path no matter what, perhaps best encapsulates the philosophy of sass & bide.
It all began in London’s famed vintage stores, and on the streets of its eclectic markets, indulging their obsession with fashion during moments stolen from their ‘real’ jobs.
A time they describe as ‘intensely and wonderfully creative’ led to the fateful decision to launch their dream business at London’s Portobello Road market, and provided the first taste of what was to come. Sass and bide, as they have always known each other, achieved an instant hit in the notoriously competitive market with their unique denim creations. Utilizing Heidi’s life long passion for innovative design, and Sarah-Jane’s extraordinary sense of style in bringing the pieces together to create a total look, the girls were facing increasing numbers of enthusiastic repeat customers and referrals every weekend. The dream they had shared since before they even met, of launching their own fashion label, was on the verge of becoming real.
In '99 the girls decided to return to Australia, settling in Sydney to launch their namesake label, and focused on revolutionizing the designer denim market. The sense of unaffected glamour, confident sexiness and devil may care contradiction that defines their own sense of style, provided the inspiration for the incredibly successful East Village jean. With it’s unmistakable two inch zip, not to mention the remarkably flattering fit for which sass & bide is now so well known, the jean catapulted the label to underground icon status in Australia within just a few months. An international following soon developed, and the passion of their fans gave the girls both their greatest sense of satisfaction, and a powerful validation of their desire to take sass & bide in bold new directions.
In 2001, with the support of Mercedes Australian Fashion Week in Sydney, sass & bide launched their first seasonal fashion collection, ‘Lady Punk’. The collection was received to rave reviews, both in the domestic and the international press. The sass & bide fashion line was created, and now comprises four trans-seasonal collections a year. In February '04 sass & bide was invited to show on schedule at New York Fashion Week, expanding sass & bides catwalk presence beyond Sydney and London where we have shown collections in the past. Even the most cursory glance at www.sassandbide.com reveals the ever evolving, sexy, edgy and undeniably luxurious nature of the collections.
Today sass & bide is sold in some of the best boutiques and department stores around the world, and enjoys the enviable support of both the fashion press, and the ‘it’ girls we read about in their pages every month. However, it is the girl on the street, and the impact sass & bide has had on her, that provides the inspiration to continue to push the boundaries, to defy the limits of convention, and to continue to live the dream shared by Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton . Heidi Middleton first wrote these words of Emily Bronte in her diary as a fourteen year old, and it’s a message that resonates with sass & bide today more than ever – "I’ll walk where my own nature leads me. It vexes me to choose another guide."
sass & bide would like to dedicate this website, our shared creative place, to every girl who has the desire, the passion and the strength of character to follow her own path.
Read more about Sass & Bide...Who's Wearing Sass & Bide...Sarah Jessica Parker, Kylie Minogue, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson, Sarah O'Hare, Victoria Beckham "Posh Spice", Mya, Rosario Dawson, Mischa Barton, Alexis Bledell, Taryn Manning
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Low-rise sass & babe - COUNTLESS Sydney girls have fallen in love with low-rise sass & bide hipster jeans, now it's time for a new generation to fall for their funky designs.<br> Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton, the designers behind the label who recently revealed they are both pregnant, say a line of baby clothing could be on the cards.
The Finest Fusion - New York's newest arrival is also its hottest splash. Aussie label Sass & Bide, designed by best pals Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton was the sort of hot-to-trot, have-attitude-will-travel collection that rocked the tents late night on Saturday and reminded viewers what a perfectly edited collection is all about:
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