INSIDE VOICES

Naarm based fashion label INSIDE VOICES, has worked over the last two years to create a brand that has merged the lines of fashion, design and art. INSIDE VOICES takes a sustainable approach to fashion and design, choosing to up-cycle and repurpose clothing to give all their garments a new life. With every drop selling out in minutes, we’ve sat down to chat to one of the brains behind the brand, Isabella Toppi.

insidevoices.com

What is Inside Voices and how did it come to be?

Inside Voices is a small creative practice based in Melbourne that aims to strike a balance between clothing, art and design. The practice is run by myself and my partner Jack, and was formed quite organically during the year 2020. We had a gap year of travel planned when the pandemic hit and after a period of feeling slightly lost with the sudden change of plans, we realised it was going to be really important for us to stay productive and creative. Not only for practising our skillsets but also for our metal wellbeing and having an engaging creative outlet.

What and who is the greatest inspiration for your designs and what design processes do you use?

Through the development of our processes and the brand itself, it became apparent that the environment and the natural world became a driving inspiration and subject to many of our designs. This focus and respect of the environment has as a result, formed our considerations and approach to the way we tackle our production and design processes. We always keep the planet’s best interests at heart. We’re also very much inspired by our growing circle of like minded creatives that share similar values. It’s been really special forming these connections and being able to collaborate through our brand.

Inside Voices is incredibly inclusive and gender-neutral, is this something that was always important to you or something that happened on its own?

I would say that developed quite naturally I think working with each other we end up creating designs that have a great mix of stylistic qualities and we’ve really loved how not one quality has defined our style and our audience. Inclusivity is something that we value and continue to consider with everything we create.

What are your thoughts on ethical and sustainable fashion? Do you see your business model as being a way to counteract these problems?

The importance of brands considering their environmental impact is becoming more pressing than ever. The fashion industry alone is a major contributor to the current climate crisis. However I think that there has been a real shift towards brands wanting to be more transparent with their production and implementation of sustainable practices. For Inside Voices, being sustainable means being able to create our art without leaving a huge impact on our environment. At the core of our practice is the process of upcycling and the use of already existing materials. Since we created Inside Voices, we have considered alternate ways of production from sourcing pre-owned garments via local charity shops as well as reaching out to companies who are looking for ways to minimise their collection of overstock and waste. After the sourcing of garments, we control the entirety of design, print and production internally, which helps us control and reduce the impact of these processes.

how do you manage the balance between demand and sustainability?

This is definitely a challenge for us as moving forward, it’s important that we manage demand in a way that upholds our values of not overproducing for the sake of it. I believe however, through the community we’ve created, our buyers understand that they are purchasing something that’s been highly considered and has, at each step of its curation, kept the planet in mind and is therefore limited by nature.

What inspired you to create the Love Me Again project?

Love Me Again is an up-cyling program, which essentially allows people to up-cycle their own used garments through Inside Voices. The program was inspired from a place of wanting to challenge the conventional norms of retail, whilst still connecting a meaningful product with our customers.
It embodies our core values that we have always created with. Central to our ethos is that er don’t want to contribute to the overwhelming waste of the fashion industry and we endeavour to showcase a new way for our customers to shop slower and smarter. The project aims to inspire people to look at what they already own and re-think, rather than discard. They can instead love again and change their perception towards the ‘shelf life' of their clothes.

What can we see in the future for Inside Voices?

I’m excited to see where Inside Voices will take us! It would be great to see it grow into a practice that’s bigger than simply a label but for the near future, it would be amazing to do some collaborations with bigger brands on projects that look at their waste management and how they can find ways to reuse abandoned material. Its hard to look so far ahead sometimes as it can get overwhelming, so just taking it day by day and the creative process of it all is something I’m really enjoying.

INSIDE VOICES, ‘New Grow with It’ from Vol. 5