I am now the proud owner of a red twisted scarf by Karen Lee of the label Karen Lee. And the beauty of this purchase is the fun I had buying the scarf and the fun I’m having wearing it.

Many of Karen Lee’s locally designed garments can be worn more than one way and my red scarf is no exception—I can choose to wear it wrapped once around my neck so it drapes down my body, double it up around my neck, or drape it around my shoulders and upper arms to create a fashionable shawl. How versatile can you get?

Designer Karen Lee and the two designers behind 4 minutes 33, Gemma Jameson and Francesca Altenburg, have upped the ante on the fashion scene in Canberra with the opening this past weekend of Assemblage Project, a boutique retail shop on trendy Lonsdale Street in Braddon. That’s where I bought the scarf. And where I had the pleasure of shopping while chatting one-on-one with these innovative designers about their creations. Trust me, it’s a special experience, not to mention the pride you get from supporting local designers.

So what drove Karen, Gemma and Francesca to take the plunge and open their own retail store? The intense desire to have direct interaction with the customer and the desire to get back to the roots of design.

The three designers graduated with their Degree in Design (Fashion) from the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) in 2008, determined to create contemporary collections featuring unique pieces (some one-off) that are well made, focus on quality of design and are inspiring to wear. And you don’t have to have a super tall, thin, model-type figure to enjoy the end result.

Karen Lee designs are about movement, changing forms and changing body shapes, including for larger sizes. 4 minutes 33 designs transcend age, body shape and culture. Gemma and Francesca design as a means of communicating poetic expression, enabling the wearer to develop personal style and reflect their individuality.

Assemblage Project is not a massive space and the talent of the designers extended to their work on setting the shop up—a healthy dose of tender loving care and a lot of physical labour. They even spent three days creating a feature wall with a special type of ‘vanilla bean’ paint that required labour-intensive application with a trowel and then hand waxing—yes, hand waxing.

Karen Lee and 4 minutes 33 both featured new collections on the catwalk at Fashfest, the four-day fashion event that truly made an impact on the nation’s capital. And the two labels have been selected to participate in the high-end, inaugural twilight fashion market Hustle and Scout, to be held 21 September at the Nishi building in New Acton. Indeed, 11 Fashfest designers have been selected for Hustle and Scout so mark the date in your calendar.

Assemblage Project is at Unit 3a, Lonsdale Street, Braddon, just down from the Lonsdale Street Traders.

Photographs by Suzan Dhlouy