Red Stripe is by far my favourite store, not only because of their amazing stock, but because of the super rad people that work there! I stumbled across the market stall in my oh-so-punk-rock teenage days, and I've grown up and evolved along with it. It provided me with an opportunity to make friends with people who had similar interests to me, and it will always have a special place in my heart.
Red Stripe's artwork, created by Glitter Sniffer: http://glittersniffer.deviantart.com/
What are your top 5 bands / singers:
Lake: Ricky Martin, Rod Stewart, Savage Garden.. Haha! For serious, I really like too many bands to list, but I love good, old fashioned rock 'n' roll, psychobilly, some (good) hip-hop..
What does it mean to you to be a subcultural girl?:
Lake: I guess being open-minded.
Lake and previous co-owner, Janelle
(copyright 2006, fotomethodika.com)
When did you start the business and why?:
Lake: I started red stripe in Oct 2001 with two friends, Agatha and Bryn. We did it because we loved making clothes for ourselves and our friends and couldn't find the stuff we wanted to wear in shops.. so, we started a little market stall. I remember applying at the Subiaco Station street Markets in September 2001, I was on the way home from Agatha's house at about 11am after a massive night, hadn't even brushed my teeth, and I got off the train and went to the Office area and enquired. The lady I spoke to was really-super nice and encouraging and said when they have a vacant stall she'll call us.. I got back on the train and saw my black and white stripey shirt had beer and grenadine stains all down the front of it, my makeup from the night before was all over my face.. I looked like such a derro-freak. Then the lady actually called me back (!), about a month later and we had one week to get stock together and find racks, a counter etc.. It was nuts.
Was it a difficult task to establish the business / how did you go about it?:
Lake: It was pretty tough at first, I was at university studying Italian and had two other jobs, so sewing was what I did in any spare time I had, I can't believe I did so much back then, I guess I was pretty focussed on making the market stall look good with heaps of stock. I spent all the money I had on fabric, and we just kind of did it, we had no experience and I had never studied fashion, design or business, I just made it up as I went along I guess. I made mistakes but that's how you learn! Haha. After a while Agatha and Bryn moved on and Janelle came along.
The old market stall
Did it take a long time to gain a following of customers? How did you promote the business initially, if at all?:
Lake: It didn't take that long to get regular customers, as we were the only people doing what we were doing in Perth, so when people found us who were into the same things as us I think they were pretty excited and came back to see what was new. We met some of our best friends (and employees!) through the market stall. We used to make our own flyers and posters too, real crazy black and white photocopied cut and paste things with heaps of leopard print, and handed them out to people who looked like they might have been interested, and stuck up the posters in nightclub toilets etc.
Old shop fliers at the old market stall, on the left
What were your primary goals for the business? Have you achieved them?:
Lake: For me I didn't really start out with a set goal, it was more a day-to-day thing where I just did what needed to be done. I didn't even imagine I would or even could have a proper shop with real, human employees!
Is it difficult to make a living out of the business?:
Lake: It was at first, and I had a couple of jobs to support me and my sewing. Now running the shop is my full time job. In terms of time, the shop (red stripe clothing) has taken over from my fashion label (red stripe), which once was my priority. When we moved from the markets to a proper shop in Northbridge, in March 2004, we started to do a lot of importing and now have an internet store, so the shop has changed from having primarily locally made stock to mainly imported. I'd like to get back into sewing heaps more, but maybe once I finish TAFE at the end of this year (I'm learning spanish part-time).
Lake gutting the original shop site
What are your future plans for the business?:
Lake: Haha, who knows!!
You are both fairly young business owners, do you think this has been a hindrance?:
Lake: Not really, I feel like I had a lot less inhibitions then, especially because I had no idea where the business (or me as a person) was heading. I've grown up alot since I was 19 (I'm 28 in december).
Red Stripe's interior
What has been the highlight of owning the business?:
Lake: Meeting awesome people has to be the best side-effect, along with having access to super-mega-hot clothes, shoes and accessories!! Haha! Also I pretty much can do what I want!
What would be your advice for anyone wanting to set up a business similar to yours?:
Lake: Um.. just do it - you have nothing to lose. (except maybe some money - but it's worth it if you tried your hardest!).
Red Stripe's exterior
What would you like to see more girls out there doing?:
Lake: Being creative and actively involved in whatever they are interested in. Being confident and feeling good about themselves, and not trying to impress others.
Red Stripe's older artwork, also created by Glitter Sniffer: http://glittersniffer.deviantart.com/
Red Stripe is located at 8 - 10 Roe Street, Northbridge which is opposite the Perth train station.
They also have an online store, for all you people outside of Perth: http://www.redstripeclothing.com/
You can also add them on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/redstripeclothing
Or follow them on twitter: http://twitter.com/redstripeshop
Article written by Sally Kingsley
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