Recently we asked Bri Cheeseman and Andrew Prince to tell us a little more about their label. Kindly, they obliged and told us about how they found themselves creating the beautiful garments of Secret South, formerly Secret Squirrel.

LO Howdy Bri & Andrew. How are you both?

We’re good!  It’s cold in Sydney today and in the studio as well  – lots of couriers arriving with fabrics and everyone keeps leaving the doors open! Looking forward to the arrival of spring, the humidity and the heavy scent of jasmine.

LO Can you tell us a little about what you do?

We make simple, beautiful, modern clothing women love to wear. We place a big emphasis on print, colour and quiet details to make pieces that are wardrobe essentials.

LO How did you two get started?

We started at the markets. We made and printed everything ourselves to begin with and the label grew organically from there.

LO What’s the most interesting thing about your work?

We love collaborating with other creatives and find it’s the most interesting part of running the label.  Whether it be on textiles, photo shoots or campaign films, that process of collaboration is very rewarding.

LO Who or what inspires your work?

Music is probably our main source of inspiration, we are always listening to new and classic artists and whole collections can be dreamed up just from listening to an album. We’ve just discovered Rdio and an instrumental release of The Herbaliser.

LO How old were you when you decided to take this path?

26 (Bri) and 31 (Andrew)

LO What is/are your favourite achievement(s) so far in your career?

There’s too many to choose! We like to celebrate all the achievements we’ve made along the way, both huge ones and also tiny little ones only we would notice.  Probably the best so far has been  getting to the point where the label is our full time occupation.

LO What do you dream about?

I dream about luxurious tropical holidays, lying on beaches and Andrew dreams about roughing it camping. Sometimes the two don’t match up but we always make sure we get a bit of both.

LO What other labels do you admire?

I admire anyone who has the passion, creativity and determination to start their own label.  Hats off to all of us!

LO We hear there’s a big change in store for the label. Can you tell us about the new direction?

This season we’ve changed our name to Secret South. It’s been in the pipeline for a while now behind the scenes but we felt this season was the perfect time to do it.  The label has really evolved over the years to be all about simple, modern, covetable pieces that are all about print and quality and for us Secret South really encapsulates this.

LO What inspired the change?

Every girl has wanted to change her name at some point in her life, right?  While we loved the cute nostalgia of our old name, Secret South feels fresh and modern and a little more grown up.  It captures the essence of what the label has become over the years.

LO  We love the new direction. A little more sophisticated, and the prints are so eye catching. Thanks for your time & keep up the great work!

Pleasure.

LO‘s picks from the first collection from Secret South:

This season features the aztec influenced kilim print exclusive to Secret South. We’ve chosen a beautiful shirt dress with button through detail and long tail back. We can see this working perfectly from day to night. The orange kilim print has returned in a familiar but slightly edited shape. For those who have loved the silk dresses from last season you’ll find this number is slightly longer with a stunning keyhole back (or as L would say – A surprise back!) Each of the prints has also been worked across a series of scarves and purses which look fantastic teamed back with a neutral outfit for the coming Spring. We hope you like as much as we do xx

All Secret South items are available for pre order via the website or by phoning the store.