Spunky Bruiser

 

Spunky Bruiser- link to Podcast

Spunky Bruiser is a shop in Darlinghurst Sydney that repurposes second hand clothing into unique sustainable Australian Fashion. I had an encounter with these guys and ended up helping to make a one off Salvo shirt. 

 

A few years ago I was watching a TV documentary about a clothing company called Spunky Bruiser that made fashionable clothes out of the second hand clothes found at op shops or even the unsellable clothes headed for the tip.  They would cut sections of the fabric up and use them to put together trendy new clothes to sell at markets and in their store in Darlinghurst, Sydney. 

At one point in the show they were in a Salvo opp shop and I thought, I need to meet these guys and check it all out.  So I found their number and organized time to visit the shop. 

I toddled off to the trendy part of Darlinghurst and met Bex and Christian and listened to their beautiful heart for sustainable fashion and ethical clothing.  These were seriously good people and I liked them straight away.  I wanted to be as supportive as possible and arranged for bales of second hand clothes from the salvos warehouse to be made available to them for free. 

I also wanted to experience the making of one of these unique one off garments and so purchased a shirt and asked if we could maybe make a Salvo branded shirt out of old Salvo tee shirts and branded clothes I had in my drawers at home.  They said yes, so I rocked up one day with a few pre loved Salvo branded clothes and participated in the making of my very own Salvo recycled shirt.  We cut up about five second hand shirts and a ripped old pair of jeans and pieced them together to one of the fabulous Spunky Bruiser designs.  I was intimately involved in choosing what piece of shirt went where and I did some cutting and pinning while Bex and Christian did all the sewing and construction.  The work involved to actually make a quality shirt is significant and we don’t pay anywhere near what we should for most of our clothes.  

Well the result was amazing and it, to this day, is one of my favorite shirts and I will never throw it out as I understand what was involved in making it. 

I had lots of ideas about how to get some of my refugee friends to sew clothes for Spunky Bruiser and even entertained the thought of making all the year 12 jerseys in this way for a private girls school.  But it is expensive and challenging to bring ideas like this together and nothing came of it. 

Bex and Christian were so kind and generous to me and I love that they have endured and that Spunky Bruiser is still a very cool and successful business. People often come along with a few favorite pieces of clothing and the Spunky Bruiser team do their magic and give it a whole new lease of life.  

I will always look back on my time with Bex and Christian with gratitude and fondness and I have great respect for what they stand for and who they are as people. 

There are some exceptionally good and creative people in this world and I got to meet and engage with these two for a while and it was good for my soul.  So, If you have a heart for ethical fashion and love high quality clothes, check out Spunky Bruiser.  Their shop is in Darlinghurst and they are on line as well.    

Bless ya,

 

Bryce