Ally Thomas is helping other small businesses and supporting causes to make the community a better place. Photo: Keeli Dyson.
A young Illawarra fashion designer and entrepreneur is continuing to build a supportive space for other small businesses while embarking on missions and partnerships to benefit the environment and help people within her community.
Ally Thomas has been launching business endeavours ever since she was a child.
“I’ve always been creative,” Ally said. “Growing up I always had little projects going on, I was very into art, very entrepreneurial.”
Her passion for design sparked at the end of high school when she decided to use the sewing skills she’d developed from her mother and grandmother for a Year 12 design and technology project.
“I really wanted to do something around sewing and making something, and being the beachy person I am I thought of swimwear straight away,” Ally said.
“But I wanted to step into that sustainability and I ended up using offcuts of other swimwear brands.”
Having found what she wanted to pursue, Ally went to university to further study design, but halfway through her degree COVID lockdowns hit and she found herself with a lot of spare time at home reassessing her own clothing collection.
“I had a big realisation that my whole wardrobe was full of fast fashion,” she said. “It was full of pieces that are made from all synthetic fibres; they’re pretty much based on fast, fleeting fashion trends – you kind of want to wear it once and then throw away because the trend is gone.”
She decided to give the items she no longer wore a new life by resewing them into something new.
Then she started doing the same for her friends to help them reinvent their wardrobes, before starting up a social media page selling the items and creating her own brand, Malia the Label.
While she was slowly building her own creations, a side quest making face masks connected her with Sheralee from the Thirroul Collective, now called Thirroul + Co.
“She came across my face masks and was buying a hundred off me a week,” Ally said.
“Then after COVID she had a space open up here for fashion with all my handmade clothes.”
After graduating, Ally set out to find someone who could bring her designs to life in small batch quantities from all natural fibres.
“I actually flew over to Indonesia and met with makers to find the right people where I’m going to be able to do it ethically and sustainably in a way that I value,” she said.
Over the past four years, Ally has been creating quality wardrobe staples that are good for the environment, and although she’s seen a shift towards sustainability, ultra-fast fashion retailers still make it extremely difficult for up-and-coming designers.
“I feel like these days there’s so many mass produced things,” she said. “I do feel like people are becoming more aware that they’re not ethical.
“A lot of these platforms are stealing from designers and creators and I think as people you’ve just got to think what do you value and what do you want to support.”
But through being able to showcase her products instore at Thirroul + Co, Ally can not only prove their quality but also start conversations about the journey.
“I can actually speak face to face with my customers and tell them my story,” Ally said. “And people love hearing the story behind the brand and knowing that what they’re purchasing into is more than just a product.
“This store has made my brand a possibility. It has helped me build up my brand to what it is today because honestly if I didn’t get my foot in the door here when I did, I don’t know if my brand would even be a brand.”
That opportunity is now something Ally is offering to other small businesses after buying Thirroul + Co when Sheralee decided to step back last year.
“It was unexpected for me but I was so excited,” Ally said. “I’m so grateful for this store and everything that it’s created for my brand and now I’m so happy that I get to help other small businesses in the same way Sheralee helped me.”
But putting designers in the spotlight isn’t the only way Ally is supporting her community, with the 25-year-old partnering with charity Dangerous Females and other business owners from around the region to create an event in the Kangaroo Valley raising money for domestic violence support.
The ‘Soiree in the Valley’ will be a luxe garden style event centred around connection, conversation and purpose, with all profits going to Pop In frontline domestic violence service.
“I really wanted to get involved,” Ally said.
“I’ve been getting all the goodie bags and connecting with all the local businesses to be able to compile that together as well as raffle prizes.
“It’s going to be such a nice event for everyone just to get together and help raise money.”
The event will be held at La Belle Vallée on 11 November, with tickets on sale now.
To learn more or buy Ally’s designs visit the Malia the Label or Thirroul + Co websites.
