Stylestalker

Get to know Australia's newest fashion obsession . . .

There is nothing I love more than two really pretty girls who design really pretty clothes – and this has come in the form of the amazing Australian fashion brand, Stylestalker. I got to know designers Rachel Zeilic, 24, and Sue-Ann San, 25, a few months ago through my fashion blog. I instantly fell in love with their collection of easy and chic pieces. The latest Stylestalker collection is well-rounded, made up of fashion-forward dresses, tops, and bottoms with a “midnight” theme that includes stark black, soft nudes, and strong shoulders. Experimentation is what fashion is all about and Stylestalker embraces a chameleon-like outlook on style by bringing together both a sexy and pure taste in fashion that has girls going crazy all over the world.

Stylestalker is for the girls who want to wear clothes that are superbly tailor-made without the high-fashion price (ranging between $49 and $229 Australian dollars). The clothes have simple, refined silhouettes so that they are made to be timeless, but what stands out most to me about their designs is that every single detail is taken into consideration, from mesh ruched sleeves to sexy laces running down the sides of a dress. The amplification of intricate detailing certainly speaks for itself. When you put on a Stylestalker dress, you really don’t need much else to complete a look.

“We design very much for the way we want to dress - and that is pretty much just to throw on an amazing dress and look a million bucks,” Rachel says. “We're not that tricky and don’t really ‘get’ layering or wearing heaps of accessories. We just want to be able throw something on, run out the door, and look instantly cool.”

It’s a practical outlook on fashion, but definitely a fun one. Just one look at Stylestalker’s designers and you will fall head over heels for their body-conscious dresses that can take you from a day running errands to a night-long party in a snap. In a day and age when we are always on the go with hardly a minute to spare, smart and easy dressing is everything we want. Stylestalker takes the work out of getting dressed up by designing clothes that are show-stopping and edgy. The pieces are trendy, but have an anonymous vibe about them that makes them timeless, classic essentials for every girl’s wardrobe. Just throw them on and go!

Getting to know the designers behind this wonderful brand really made me appreciate Stylestalker’s aesthetic and the hard work the girls put in to get where they are now. Rachel and Sue-Ann met while studying communications at a university in Australia. They had jobs together at an advertising agency and became quick friends because of their shared love of fashion.

“We were spending all our time after and during work trawling the web, reading blogs and magazines, and traveling together,” says Rachel. “We were getting so much inspiration but couldn’t find the kind of clothes we wanted to wear at a price we could afford. So Stylestalker was born.”

Neither Rachel nor Sue-Ann had any formal training in fashion design before joining forces to create Stylestalker, and they learned everything on the job through sweat and relentless dedication.

“When we started, we didn't know anything about creating a coherent collection, or when the season selling dates were or anything like that,” Rachel says. “So we just started by designing about ten pieces we really loved and wanted to wear. We did loads of research and found some factories in Bali we wanted to work with. We took our life savings, flew over, and got our initial designs made up. It was hard at first because shops are really wary of young labels, and the website took a lot longer than we expected to get up and running. But once it all got going it kind of snowballed and things have taken off really quickly.”

In the beginning, Rachel and Sue-Ann really put their all into every dimension of their brand, from scouting trends, promoting and running the website, and even packaging boxes. They still do all this, but with the amazing help of a small yet dedicated team of employees and interns. Over one hundred boutiques in Australia are already carrying the label, which is also sold on New York-based online store www.pixiemarket.com, and is soon to be sold at Selfridges in the U.K.

The future of Stylestalker is sure to be a successful one. They hope to open a Sydney storefront soon, as well as make their way to the U.S. and U.K. with online shops, but you can still purchase Stylestalker through their main website at www.stylestalker.com. I have the Ribcage dress and it is the most mesmerizing Little Black Dress in my closet. It’s classic and feminine shape makes me feel sexy, sleek, girly, and edgy all at the same time. And that is what Stylestalker aims to do – make us feel like any girl we want to be. Head over to their site and stalk it for a while. I’m sure you’ll leave with the perfect piece.

Published May 14, 2010 on LVCMag.com