Nicole and Sharon’s ‘win-win’ project: a fashion store that helps women in need

ANNE SUSSKIND meets the founders of a high-end Sydney recycling enterprise that raises money for women in distress and gives shoppers some bargains along the way.

Fashion Forward ticks all the boxes for its founders Nicole Katz and Sharon Aaron, fulfilling both their personal needs and altruistic aspirations. The project, a high-end clothes recycling enterprise with a store in Bondi, donates all its profits to the Jewish House crisis centre for women in need, both Jewish and non-Jewish. With $145,000 raised so far this year, they have already exceeded their target.

Buying clothes from them is a mitzvah, says Aaron on a recent busy Sunday, in a shop full of women pouncing on designer clothes, discussing what suits them and being encouraged to try something new.

It’s a “win-win”, she says, where you give as well as receive and, if you don’t like the item when you get home, or if your family doesn’t, well … just re-donate it, they’ll re-sell it and you’ll be giving again.

“Just by buying you are giving,” says Katz. “You buy clothing that you love, that you’ve chosen for yourself but you are giving. We feel good, allowing women to buy brands that they would never normally have been able to … clothes that they’d not ever think they’d be able to own.

“The camaraderie in the change room is about girls just having fun,” she says. “Sometimes, a stylist (on one occasion Kathryn Eisman, host of the TV show Undressed) will come in, donating her time, giving free advice and generating a bit of business. Most people go out with something; many with three or four items.”

Both women come from South Africa, now live in Vaucluse and love fashion. “When we started, we just were two girls. Our kids had been in primary school together, we met down at Bronte, we ended up talking about how we've all got too many clothes,” Katz explains. “The initial model was ‘let's collect 1000 items and sell them for $35. We can make a lot of money for Jewish House.’”

The first event was in Aaron’s home in 2019. It was quite a “balagan”, Katz says, collecting the clothes, preparing and hanging them all beautifully. “We had a speaker who had benefited from The Jewish House. She was non-Jewish, someone who had left an abusive relationship, with twins. Everyone was crying from hearing her story.

“Then we switched the mode and said, ‘Ok girls, go mad, go shop; everything is $25, $35, $50, amazing designer clothes and whatever you pay is going directly to people like this woman.’ The event sold out, and the buzz in the change room was electrifying.”

The woman has since, thanks to their support, started her own foundation empowering women.

Initially, the two friends started with a small shop on Anzac Parade, Kensington, the space donated, like Bondi. Donors have also given printing, electrical and removal and building services, clothing racks and even hangers for free.

Since then, they’ve gone nationwide on Instagram. Buyers are online early when Katz posts a few choice items every Wednesday and Friday, and sometimes there’s even a bit of a fight if they bid at the same time, and they go next in line. Items are wrapped in brown paper and string, and posted with a thank you note that tells the story behind the clothes. 

Many people may not be able to give monetary donations, says Katz, but they do have clothes to give. There’s also a benefit from the de-cluttering and of clothes not going to landfill.

“Last week a girl phoned, she sleeps next to shoeboxes … I said I’m on the way, and seriously, the shoes just kept on coming, designer after designer - Prada, Chanel, Isabel Marant – obviously she has a shoe fetish. I don’t know what eventually prompted her; I think her husband must’ve said I can’t sleep next to all those shoeboxes.”

These days, Katz adds, clothes are starting to be donated from commercial pre-loved stores, which get them on consignment and generally take a 50 per cent cut from women who may "have beautiful clothes and want a bit of money back, so they can start buying next season’s." If they don’t sell, they can be returned, but it’s often “out of sight, out of mind” and they’re happy to donate.

Fashion Forward now has about 20 volunteers, all excited to be there. “Our next goal is to rent and pay the bills for a unit, so that every three months Jewish House can house another woman there,” says Katz.

A marathon runner, who is a bit of a “fitness fanatic”, Katz also volunteers for Maccabi Life, organising events and much of their social media. "It's just so nice that I can fit in everything I love doing in my week, including obviously running a home. I've got two children and a gorgeous husband ... I’m so grateful for Fashion Forward and Maccabi and my ability and wish to run and exercise and feel young. It completes me ... I'm on a permanent high. I have such a sense of purpose. Every day.”

Photo: Nicole Katz (left) and Sharon Aaron