Something Else - An Australian Womenswear brand | Australian Fashion Review Blog

Something Else – An Australian Womenswear brand

First published on the Last Modified on the

Womenswear Fashion from Natalie Wood

View recent Something Else Collections on Australian Fashion Review Blog

Introduction to the Something Else Fashion Label

“We’re not out for mass dominance of the fashion scene, we just want to make cool sh*t” – Something Else.

something else womenswear fashion 01 Something Else An Australian Womenswear brand

Founder of ‘Something Else’ is experienced designer and artist, Natalie Wood, the former founder of cult-label ‘Sample‘ and the experimental art/fashion project, Beauty of Nature. She has also previously held the position of the Creative Director of womenswear for the globally recognised street, skate and surf fashion label ‘Insight‘.

It was in 2005 that Natalie decided to add another string to her bow, when she noticed that there was a niche within the fashion industry that wasn’t being addressed. After working on ‘Sample’ that was exclusively high-end, contrasted with the commercial and affordable ‘Insight’, Natalie began thinking that there was a healthy balance between the two and so ‘Something Else’ was created.

Born out of Natalie’s desire to design more conceptual, art based one-off styles that were wearable and accessible, Something Else represents a unique vision that centres on merging art and fashion. The brand has collaborated on collections with many highly respected artists including Georgina Cullum, Deanne Cheuk, Michaela Saunders, Skullux, Fontaine Anderson and Tara Marynowski.

something else womenswear fashion 02 Something Else An Australian Womenswear brand

It is these collaborations and the artistic side of Natalie that has led to some of the brand’s most visionary and innovative artistic installations that have gained Something Else international recognition. These have included the abandoned house installation for ‘Paradise Lost’ in 2007; a life size doll house for ‘Living Dolls’ in 2008; and a short film for ‘Castaway’ in 2011.

Is is the brands aesthetic balancing the desirable and the accessible, and innovative collaboration that continues to captivate diverse markets around the world. As of 2012, the Something Else collections were available in 30 countries at prestigious retailers such as David Jones, General Pants, Incu, Shopbop, ASOS, Beams, Harvey Nichols and Urban Outfitters. A full list of stockists can be found on the official Something Else website.

something else womenswear fashion 03 Something Else An Australian Womenswear brand

Something Else Fashion Label: Timeline Snapshot

2000:

Australian fashion designer, Natalie Wood lands firmly on the fashion scene, at the helm of cult high-end label ‘Sample’

2005

Natalie Wood launches her womenswear label ‘Something Else‘ after seeing a gap in the market between high-end and commercial.

2006:

The Something Else Fashion label makes its official debut at Mercedes Fashion Week, premièring the ‘Living Dolls’ collection, with an innovative presentation that projected the brand into the media spotlight. Founder Natalie Wood, placed the models within a life-sized doll house, complete with quaint furniture, at Paddington Town Hall.

something else fashion living dolls Something Else An Australian Womenswear brand

Something Else ‘Living Doll’ Exhibit

2007:

Natalie Wood followed up the successful ‘Living Dolls’ installation with the equally innovative ‘Paradise Lost’, which saw a warehouse transformed into a otherworldly decayed and overgrown house. The front of the space was entirely covered and attendees of the event had to enter via a cupboard to see models in Something Else placed in various situations.
2007 saw the beginning of the ‘Extinction Sucks’ initiative, with the Something Else brand teaming up with Aleisha Caruso, a wildlife advocate for The United Nations Association of Western Australia, to raise money for the protection of endangered species. The environmentally conscious brand commissioned an artist to design an artwork of an endangered species that is printed on a tee, then sold to raise money for the cause. Currently Something Else has raised over $20,000 for the ‘Extinction Sucks’ cause.

2008:

Natalie Wood fuses her two sister labels ‘Something’ and ‘Something Else by Natalie Wood’ into one stand out label ‘Something Else’.
Something Else commissioned renowned Australian photographer, Pierre Toussaint to create a photo book to complement the Winter 2008 collection, ‘Utopia’, which comprised of several of Pierre’s personal works including ‘Apple’ and ‘Tokyo Harbour’.

something else womenswear fashion 04 Something Else An Australian Womenswear brand

2009:

The Something Else fashion label is invited to take part in the Incu Window Project, which celebrates the work of artists and designers through a platform of changing installations at their respective retail stores. Natalie filled her space with giant dream catchers in rainbow colours, complete with feathers, pom poms and shimmering embelishments, highlighting the inspirations from the Spring 2009 collection, ‘The Sound of Light’.

2011:

For the Spring 2011 collection ‘Castaway’ the Something Else brand delved into film making for the first time teaming up with Sydney-based director and artist, Lorin Askill. The short film, also called ‘Castaway’ takes the viewer on a journey of the castaway, exploring her new environment and its natural elements.

Something Else and Lorin Askill Film, ‘Castaway’

For the Summer 2011 range ‘Submerged’ the Something Else fashion label once again engaged in an artistic collaboration, this time embracing the iconic work of Ken Done. The ‘Submerged’ collection is inspired by Done’s coral reef paintings from 1970-1990, which have been remixed and adjusted to form unique prints.
Something Else launches its first eyewear collection entitled ‘Window to the Sky’, consisting of three styles of frames ‘The Basic Frame’, ‘The Radiant Frame’ and ‘The Classic Crystal Frame’ – rendered in quartz, amethyst an amber.
Natalie received the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year War in the Designer Category, beating out competition from Jamie Blakey of One Teaspoon, and Bec & Bridge brand duo Becky Cooper and Bridget Yorston.

2012:

The brand shows its Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, ‘Metamorphosis’ in a catwalk show on the ‘Independent Runway’ at the 2012 L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

Aesthetic of the Something Else Fashion Label

The Something Else brand consistently draws inspiration from the environment with the aesthetic ever evolving, while continually balancing the desirable and accessible. Founder Natalie Wood says of her design process: “It’s like designing for my own multi faceted personality – one day I like to wear pretty, the next day grunge, followed by comfy oversized then into slick clean designer feel. I like to melt all of this into the designs and collections.”

something else womenswear fashion 05 Something Else An Australian Womenswear brand

It is this unique aesthetic and the artistic collaborations that has seen Something Else a regular editorial feature in the likes of Vogue Australia, Oyster, Nylon, Marie Claire and Russh.

Future of the Something Else Fashion Label

In the future of the Something Else fashion label, Natalie hopes to further developing the accessories line and hopes to add a menswear collection, which has always been a passion of hers.

Visit the official Something Else website, here.

If you like the look of Something Else, why not check out fellow Australian fashion labels, Leona Edmiston, Dion Lee and Ginger & Smart.