The label too hot in New York to be cool in Australia

“Rebecca’s collections are present in many of the best stockists globally. To me, it’s not a household name but someone you know when you are interested in fashion and the beauty of ultra-feminine dresses with a cool vibe.”

Buyers from the US, the largest market for Rebecca Vallance are equally effusive in their praise.

“Rebecca Vallance offers beautiful feminine dresses, while sprinkling in cool tailored pieces,” says Kelly Shen, dress collections’ buyer for Saks Fifth Avenue “It’s perfect for the NYC girl.”

Kind words and big accounts are satisfying but compared to peers such as Camilla and Marc, Aje and Sir, Rebecca Vallance is rarely selected from stylists for shoots in Australia.

The obstacles to “cool kid” status are as in-your-face as Vallance’s floral prints and diamanté trims. At industry events I have heard Vallance derided as a former fashion publicist, from her time working with PR powerhouse Nikki Andrews. She has also been called a cashed-up housewife, following her marriage to successful businessman David Gasan in 2010.

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“No one is going to buy a dress because of my home life or because of what I used to do for a living,” Vallance says. “They will buy it if they feel like their most beautiful self in my clothes.”

“I’ve worked hard. I’m a country girl from Ballarat and that’s how I was raised. When I started I had to learn all areas of the business, except for pattern-making, never ask me to do that.”

“For 13 years I’ve had blinkers on to make this an international brand. I try not to sit here worrying about what people are thinking. I try to look ahead.”

It’s easier to think about New York, where Vallance is working on a SoHo store, while finalising the lease deal of a London boutique. In the next 12 months more stores are planned for Australia as the business recovers from the COVID-19 lockdown, when wholesale orders dropped by 40 per cent.

“Even then I knew that this is what I wanted to do and that I would somehow get through,” Vallance says. “Now our wholesale is double our pre-COVID levels.”

At the Australian Laureate, Vallance has her moment at the lectern, in front of some of fashion’s “cool set” when she receives the People’s Choice Award, voted for by the public.

Her speech is greeted by polite applause in comparison to the enthusiastic claps for Best Designer award winner’s Camilla and Marc. Later that night on a phone call a fashion publicist asks me, “Can you believe that Rebecca Vallance won an award…?”

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