Meet the local designer making waves in London’s fashion scene
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All fashion designers and devotees know that the Paris and London Fashion Weeks are the crème de la crème of the world of couture – to showcase something there is to have your work walk on hallowed ground.
So, it should be a feather in Canberra’s cap that one local woman has shown her designs in both. And she’s making waves.
28-year-old fashion designer Ally Brenner has always known that she wanted to have a career in fashion. And while her career has been anything but linear, with three major couture collections under her belt already, she’s now no stranger to the world of high-end and custom-made fashion.
Ally Brenner.
Designing and handmaking clothing that can take you everywhere from the boardroom with handed beaded suit jackets, to the ballet with elegant evening gowns, ivory lace tops, and ruffled skirts, all of Ally’s designs can be described in three words: luxurious, elegant, and embellished.
“I got started in it [fashion and design] when I was in primary school. I had a teacher that noticed I was interested and quite good at art…then out of nowhere, at the age of eight I started drawing dresses in my little notebook,” explains Ally.
“My mum noticed I really liked it and put me in some sewing lessons to help me bring my illustrations to life.”
Growing up in Weston Creek, Ally’s passion for drawing, design, and high fashion never faded, seeing her study at the prestigious Whitehouse Institute of Design in Sydney and graduating at the tender age of 21. Fast forward a few years – which saw her move back home and showcase her designs with The Canberra Fair – Ally was still set on a career in fashion.
And to make sure she was always learning and evolving as a designer, she decided to take a leap and get her name out there.
“I got in contact with a scout from Oxford Fashion Studio; they’re the company that I did London and Paris Fashion Week through,” says Ally.
“I ended up doing Paris Fashion Week in 2019, I decided about a year prior that I was going to do the show. It was about a year in the making to create the collection and get it all over to Paris to showcase.”
Watching her brand, Ally Brenner Designs, walk down the runway with other up-and-coming designers (and enjoying her first-ever trip to Europe), Ally says that moment was the proudest she’s ever felt. But it’s since showing her latest collection in London in 2023 – which is aptly named ‘Fierce Opulence’ – that she’s started gaining momentum in the United Kingdom.
“Orders are starting to come in so I can feel it starting to progress now which is exciting,” says Ally.
“I love my London collection because I feel like with each collection – because there has been a little bit of a gap between them – I’ve grown a lot as a designer, and I’ve learned a lot. My technique has gotten better, and my ideas have matured as well.”
Paying homage to 15th and 16th-century fashion as well as art and history – drawing inspiration from the opulent and decadent clothing the royal and noble women were wearing – each item in Ally’s collections is meticulously thought out and planned; given a modern bent to suit the diversity of the modern woman.
Think: matching a hand-beaded suit jacket and pants in bronze silk, a floral longline vest best worn over a floaty dress, a red organza cocktail dress with a gorgeous fitted bustier top and tulle underskirt, and sheer silk blouses that wouldn’t look out of place in the office, or a period drama.
“I do love the ruffled look, it’s a continuing theme in my designs. But I also love to put a modern spin on it and make it a little bit edgy – still soft and feminine but strong. Strong with the colours, the beading, and textures,” says Ally.
“Everything is made in my workroom which is based in Canberra. I usually source my fabrics from Sydney and Melbourne and sometimes from the United States, and then everything is handmade by me.”
Currently working on a ready-to-wear collection (named ‘Success’ and designed with strong, and powerful businesswomen in mind) as well as a couture collection – which will debut at the July Canberra Fair – Ally hopes she can eventually focus on her designs full-time.
But for now, she has her eyes set on Ally Brenner Designs hitting the catwalk in New York Fashion Week in 2025 or 2026, as well as showcasing at Melbourne Fashion Week, design fairs, and more.
“I want to be able to create designs that every woman can love and enjoy. I have a very strong interest in fashion, and I do love being able to give people something different, colourful, and unique,” says Ally.
“My biggest hope is that [Ally Brenner Designs] is at a place where I can solely focus on my brand and it’s bringing in enough for me to focus on it solely and not have to work another job. Just keeping a successful business going is the ultimate dream for me.”
And while it might be a cliché that those working in the industry need to move to one of the Big Four fashion capitals of the world (New York, London, Milan, and Paris) to truly cut it, Ally doesn’t plan on leaving Canberra anytime soon.
She’s determined to make herself known in the fashion industry, but ultimately her creativity is rooted in her beloved home – and her childhood bedroom that her mum has helped her convert into a work room.
“It takes a lot of hard work and patience because it has been a while in the making from where I started to where I’m at now and I still have a long way to go.”
And if this is only the beginning, who knows where she’ll end up?
For more information or to shop Ally’s collections visit allybrennerdesigns.co.uk
Images: Tina Nikolovski (photographer) and Devojka Talent (model agency).
