Willow, an Australian women’s clothing label, has remained pretty much under the radar since its beginning, at least in the U.S. Kit Willow’s designs are sharp and feminine. We feel like the clothes are more than appealing enough to be successful in the U.S., and the brand’s relative obscurity here is a bit puzzling to us.

It does seem that difficulty breaking into the American market plagues a lot of Australia and New Zealand-based brands, which may be partly due to distance and difference in seasons. Karen Walker, for example, makes amazing clothes and even shows at New York Fashion Week–as does Willow–but is nearly impossible to find in the U.S., despite having multiple boutiques and a deal with Topshop in New Zealand. Willow has three boutiques in Australia–one of her dresses even covered Australian Vogue in March.

However, if Willow is looking to break out on this side of the equator, she now has a decent chance. That’s partially in thanks to a British indie band which skyrocketed to success this year. Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine has been wearing Willow to death at concerts, talk shows, press appearance, and magazine shoots. The band is performing at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, where it’s nominated in four categories. Florence may not yet have the influence of someone like Lady Gaga or Rihanna, but the night could be pretty major for both Florence and Willow, if she does decide to wear the brand.

We think this will undoubtedly bring a lot more awareness to the brand, but Willow will probably need to do more, like increase American retail availability, in order to achieve longstanding success. What do you think? Does Willow have western hemisphere appeal, and can a band of the moment help bring the brand out of obscurity?


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Comments [7]

Willow makes great clothes – but her price points are very high even here in Australia, so it’ll be even more in the US. There’s a massive growth for contemporary labels right now (Alexander Wang, 3.1 phillip lim, Elizabeth and James, etc) and I think she’s priced a bit higher than that which makes it difficult.

Her clothes are well received here, but she’s hardly a household name either unfortunately. Australia’s a funny market though – you’ve got the very ‘hot Sydney lots of skin great swimwear’ labels like Zimmermann, hipster folk at Lover, and Willow sometimes is a bit too esoteric to fit anywhere. It has a cult following but I wouldn’t say it’s as big as some other brands here.

Willow makes great clothes – but her price points are very high even here in Australia, so it’ll be even more in the US. There’s a massive growth for contemporary labels right now (Alexander Wang, 3.1 phillip lim, Elizabeth and James, etc) and I think she’s priced a bit higher than that which makes it difficult.

Her clothes are well received here, but she’s hardly a household name either unfortunately. Australia’s a funny market though – you’ve got the very ‘hot Sydney lots of skin great swimwear’ labels like Zimmermann, hipster folk at Lover, and Willow sometimes is a bit too esoteric to fit anywhere. It has a cult following but I wouldn’t say it’s as big as some other brands here.

I absolutely love WILLOW clothing, in particular the last 2 collections… AMAZING!!! I love the dress Florence is wearing!
Kit Willow’s designs can definitely translate into the Western market and i think by someone such as Florence wearing the clothes it introduces them to another market that might have been otherwise ignorant to the brand. You can’t really deny the power of celebrity to endorse a product!
I think its brilliant that truly talented Australian designers are being internationally recognized and sort after by the public and celebrities alike. I think there is plenty of room for more growth in the overseas markets and as a country we should do everything we can to support the expansion of homegrown talent on the international stage.

Karen Walker doesnt have a line for Topshop in NZ – she owns part of “The Department Store” which has a Topshop botique in it.

** and she acts as a buyer for it.

Florence Welch looks great in Willow, but their website should make it easier to find stockists. I like to get to know the clothes by looking and touching them before I will commit to spending large sums on the net for a brand with little reputation.

Florence Welch looks great in Willow, but their website should make it easier to find stockists. I like to get to know the clothes by looking and touching them before I will commit to spending large sums on the net for a brand with little reputation.