Standing out and making a statement

Geraldine Carey and Claudine Calliebot are over-60 fashionistas with their own online clothing business in Geelong.

Geraldine Australia started four years ago, defying fashion norms, boasting unique designs and setting women apart in the world of fashion.

With a flair for style, the duo started creating clothing that were different to anything found in traditional stores and shopping centres, incorporating lots of colours, textures, and patterns.

“Most of our designs are one off, so that when a person buys a piece from us, they’re not going to see other people wearing it in the street. It’s one of our points of difference,” Geraldine said.

Claudine is a fashion influencer promoting national and international designers and has always had an interest in the industry.

Geraldine worked in Canberra for 24 years in IT but has always made her own clothes, and clothes for close friends on commission.

She also participated in fashion illustration and professional styling courses and took up screen-printing when she found it difficult to find fabric with prints.

The co-founders came together when Geraldine moved back to Victoria in 2017 and saw Claudine’s Instagram page.

At the time, Geraldine was looking to connect with different people and the two met for a coffee, with the business evolving from there.

“It was a bit nerve wracking; we thought ‘Okay, we’ll do a few things and we’ll set up our website and we’ll just give it a go’,” Geraldine said.

They are both equally involved in the process and have a shared interest in seeing garments that aren’t in the shops.

The original vision for the brand was to create something for women of mature age. This has now expanded to reach a wider market of people.

“Our vision was to defy the normal trends at the time and wear what we were comfortable in.

“Both Claudine and I found it frustrating shopping the normal malls and there’s a lot of the same type of fashion and we just wanted something different,” Geraldine said.

They want their customers to feel good in the designs and offer clothing that can be bought separately or as a set.

“We like to stand out, make a statement, and that’s what we want for our customers too.

“It’s really wanting to encourage people to dress up, even if it is to go to the local supermarket or the local shop, and it’s all about making them feel good.”

Geraldine said the pair liked to create designs and pieces that people could mix and match with their own wardrobe.

Most of their items are based on what the pair like to wear themselves, both liking colour and not really following trends.

For the over-60 designers, Geraldine Australia brings a lot of fun.

“We’re mature ages but we still like to look good, feel good, and have fun,” Geraldine said.

When creating new looks, they often go back in time to source some of their ideas, as well as seeing what colours are around.

“We have a lot of favourite muses, for example, we like Vivienne Westwood, Coco Chanel, all those older type designers who were entrepreneurs or inventors in their own right,” Geraldine said.

The brand was part of this year’s Revival Runway show, Creative Coast, in which local independent designers were celebrated.

Geraldine said they both felt “chuffed” to be included in the show, and it was a highlight after attending the show for the past five years.

The duo are pleased to see a range of models in their clothes of all different sizes and shapes, also venturing into the unisex side and including younger models in their designs.

Based in Geraldine’s home studio in Armstrong Creek, the pair do all their own sewing and produce most of their own photo and video content for their products, something that is one of Geraldine’s favourite aspects of the process.

“Everything that we’ve got in our shop, we have personally made ourselves in our little studio,” she said.

With only the two of them running the business, it has remained very local, but the clothes have reached buyers both nationally and internationally.

As well growing their audience, the fashionistas also want people to know that their are designs are not just for the mature lady and young people look good in their clothes too.

For more information, head to stylevixen.com.au