A year of this business is mostly fittings, and fittings do not make a list. These are the things that happened around them.
The runway
We launched ELEVATE, our first proper collection, and sent it down the runway as one of six finalists for the National Designer Award. The award is in its 28th year, presented by David Jones, and it is for Australian designers in their first five years. Previous winners include Dion Lee, Christopher Esber and Romance Was Born.
Timothy put the thinking behind the collection like this:
I thought for our first official collection that we drop what you would call the starting five of an all-star line-up, capsule pieces that work for any guy's wardrobe. As a second layer to that, these pieces are designed to be aesthetically timeless, lasting through the decades and across shifting trend cycles. I look at my leather jacket and I'm transported to a particular time in my life and the memories I created in it. The whole point of it is that there's inherently an emotional attachment to clothes and who you are. So if we can timestamp it, not just visually but also in a digital manner, which is what we've been able to achieve with the NFC chips, that has some impact. It's a lasting marker.Timothy Aquino, CEO and founder
In September we showed at New York Fashion Week with a collection designed for the big city.
The awards
We won Startup of the Year at the CommBank Young Hero Awards, after being shortlisted from thousands of small businesses. We were also a finalist in the Sydney Young Entrepreneur Awards and in the SME Rising Star category at the 2024 Australian AI Awards, came in at number 11 on the Smart50 list of Australia's fastest growing startups with a finalist place in the Innovator category, and landed at 81 on the Australian Financial Review's Faster Starters list.
The road
We pitched as finalists at South Summit in Madrid, exhibited at CommBank SmallBiz Week in Melbourne alongside 120 other stands, went back to AREC on the Gold Coast after being the only tailoring company at its 25th anniversary the year before, exhibited at the Blissful One-Stop Wedding Show in Singapore, and spent time at Startup Grind in San Francisco.
Along the way we suited Baron Davis, entrepreneur and two time NBA All-Star, in Los Angeles, dressed Logies attendees in Sydney, and put a suit on Justin Rosniak on the red carpet at Cannes.
The quiet one
From April, the Surry Hills studio started staying open until 8pm on Thursdays. Clients have loved the flexibility.
Every THEODORE garment is cut to your own measurements. Book an appointment at the studio, at a touring fitting, or over video.