I am pausing making clothing + closing my website for 2025, taking time for health and learn new things. I will be back full of inspiration in 2026.
Kindling is an independent, Melbourne based label that exists to create special and comfortable clothing that feels great to wear.
We love design and colour and aim to create styles that are both beautiful and ageless but most of all functional and practical for a dynamic woman’s lifestyle.
We feel inspired everyday by our local community- from the hard working mums, professional women and all round- bad asses we’re surrounded by. The teacher who needs to sit on the floor, to a photographer who needs to look nice but have pockets for her gear while working, or a tall friend who can never wear jumpsuits (but loves them) or like so many of the customers whose bodies are changing due to children, age or life events and they just want to feel comfortable and look good. It is our aim to produce affordable high quality garments with meaningful design that are made well by people we know and respect. Our clothing is all made with a mix of quality fabrics such as denim, linen and cotton.
Remember the good old days when things seemed to have much more longevity (hello televisions that lasted 20 years?) We want to take our clothing manufacturer back there. For us, this means no shortcuts, no factories, just quality for longevity.
About Nina
Nina started making clothes from a young age, moving from whipping up makeshift outfits for nights out to formal study of Clothing and Textiles in 2005 and in 2015 she completed a Masters of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT, Melbourne.
From 2010 to 2013, Nina was based in Vietnam, working within the Australian aid sector as a designer for a Social Enterprise. Managing a team of hearing-impaired seamstresses provided special challenges and rewards outside the usual. Working closely within the tailoring industry inspired the development of her own workshop. A team of five incredibly talented tailors make all of the clothing, with each garment cut and sewn by one person from beginning to end. This gives the garments a certain hand-finished quality and ensures attention to detail, with the result being beautifully crafted clothing that lasts. There are no factories, and no short cuts. It’ a slow and time consuming way to produce clothing, but Nina is sure that it is a strength and ultimate point of difference for her label.
In late 2013, Nina relocated back to Australia, choosing Brunswick as her new home. Over seven years she has enjoyed being a part of the flourishing Australian designer scene in Melbourne first opening a store in Collingwood and now in her beloved community of Brunswick.
I am always checking in with what is special about the garment, and therefore what will make it special for someone else to own and wear. Often it starts with the selection of the fabric but quickly becomes attention to the cut, the proportions and the overall function, then the details; which button, which piping, pocket style and placement, size and shape of the collar. Everything needs to be special and just right. It’s like when I match my nailpolish to my underwear and even though no-one else might notice, it makes me feel really balanced and like everything makes sense’