Sarah-Jane Clarke is an Australian designer and one of the founders of Sass & Bide. She went to St Aidan's Anglican Girls School,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1992 and then continued her study at

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

to be an accountant. In 2010, Clarke was awarded Australian winners of the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award. Clarke and Heidi Middleton started their fashion business with a stall of their own designs at 1999

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's Portobello Road Market. Later that year, both of them returned to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and launched their label Sass & Bide which on 2008 was sold across in 30 countries. At the initial phase of their business, Clark and Middleton borrowed $70,000 to start their label in

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality o ...

. Clarke was mainly in charge of finances and marketing, while Middleton was working on the design. Prior to ready-to-wear product, they mainly produced jeans and denim as their first collection for Sass & Bide. In 2014, Clarke left Sass & Bide after the company was being sold to one of the biggest Australian retailers,

Myer Myer (stylised MYER) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products across women's, men's, and child ...

. After four years of hiatus from fashion world, Clarke came back to establish her new label, Sarah-Jane Clarke, in 2018. This new label was dedicated for luxurious travel collection and produced in Australia, with some contribution from artisans around the world. Clarke was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

in recognition of her significant service to the fashion industry, and to charitable organisations. She married an architect, Daniel Baffsky, and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Sarah-Jane Australian fashion designers Australian women fashion designers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Members of the Order of Australia Australian women company founders Australian company founders