Fiona Scanlan, founder of 'BIG by Fiona' clothing.
Melina Cruickshank chats to Fiona Scanlan, founder of 'BIG by Fiona Scanlan' clothing.
Fiona is a woman many still think of as one in a tiny, elite handful of intuitive and gifted Australian designers. After her second child George was born, Fiona left the high end women?s fashion world and founded the enigmatic and gorgeous clothing label ?BIG by Fiona?.
Fiona, how many children do you have? What age/sex are they?
I have 2 girls, George who is 6 years and Maisie who is 17 years.
Unlikely book ends.
What has surprised you the most about becoming a mother?
Probably how much it changes you as a person. I find it makes you very introspective, it makes you look at yourself a lot.
It makes you very accountable and because of that I think you raise the bar in terms of the way you are, reacting to things and the way you cope with things.
I definitely have softened and matured in the best of ways for having my two girls.
Do you miss anything about your life prior to having children?
I think I did originally when I had Maisie, my eldest. I was a pioneer in the child rearing stakes amongst my friends and so I felt I was always missing out on the spontaneous get togethers and I would avoid things that looked potentially like a big night.
I think I got over that and started to recreate life at home and soon became the person who caught up with people on my own terms generally cooking meals for all who would like to visit.
With the arrival of George, life felt quite different and I had a group of girls that I hung out with and shared baby time with. I wasn?t working and everything felt a lot more relaxed and cruisey.
How has your relationship with your partner changed since becoming parents?
To tell you the truth, nothing feels radically different.
Okay, sure the spontaneity is calibrated a little differently. We probably drop into bed at the end of the day, completely exhausted after seeing to the needs of two diversely different aged children, business and home.
But I am blessed with a very supportive partner. Whether it has been with or without children we work very well together and because we are this way with one another, our life feels on par.
What advice do you have for new mothers or mothers to be?
I feel it is always good having a sense of what or how you want to be as a parent. How you feel your home life should feel, what things are paramount and what you can put on hold.
I feel I approached motherhood differently with Maisie to George. I did what a lot of people do with a first child and basically bring them along with adult life. It doesn?t necessarily work.
With George, I virtually stopped still, had a think and decided on how I would have a baby differently. Their clock or patterns became paramount and our lives fitted around that. It was a much better way.
How did you find being pregnant?
I found being pregnant fine! I have been very healthy during both pregnancies and had babies easily. I must admit clothing and that feeling of being huge is a little daunting.
But life is short lived and the reward at the end can?t compare with the months of feeling a bit, well, unattractive!
What are you great at?
Creating things and environments that are special and unique.
Thinking left of the medium and giving people something that doesn?t feel mass produced and generic.
?BIG? stores are famous for creating special worlds that are all about making children delighted and their parents happy as well.
What are you terrible at?
Computers and programs related to computers!
I call myself ?BC? (before computers) though on the contrary I feel like a modern woman and I feel I will always have a young headspace.
I am from the world of creating things with pencil and paper, swatches and building an idea up in a 3D manner. Very valuable skill ? but if I am faced with trying to do something on a computer and everyone has left the office for the day ? the frustration level does rise.
What do you think about 'me time'? Do you practice it, preach it or have you resigned yourself to the fact that you will have to play catch up later on?
I do practise ?me time? with my exercise routine.
I catch up with a friend and we ride our bikes at 5.30am and we chat, workout and have a big laugh. It is very therapeutic for all. I feel energised, my mind has been taken off its usual track and friends together can really help you prioritise things. I suppose it is the modern way of doing ?women?s business?.
What do you find ?drops through the cracks??
Probably keeping in touch with some of my oldest friends and some family members.
I feel time is very finite these days and so it?s an effort to keep all bases covered.
Fiona, how do you manage running the demands of your business 'BIG by Fiona Scanlan' as well as being a mother?
It is definitely a juggling act.
But my husband Luke and I made some good moves a few years ago and kept home, work and school for the girls all in a 1 km radius.
If anything needs special attention or we need to run to the aid of one of the girls, we are there. Equally, if I need to do extra work with approaching deadlines, I go home to cook, get everyone set and then go back to work for a few quiet hours or do a few early starts.
It is all about planning, scheduling, delegating and then managing.
Luke works with me. His focus is financial management and all the realms related to administrative. I couldn?t do it without him and the support of my family.
You worked at the top of Australian women?s fashion for many years with the label Scanlan & Theodore. How conducive was that world to motherhood?
I think it is very challenging for women with families. It moves quickly and the travel is immense.
Scanlan & Theodore was started without children and then children came along. I always had the feeling that children remained second in that world. Nobody had children at work and there was an expectation that you were to be available whenever was required and that is very difficult to maintain long term ? organised or not.
Children don?t fit into boxes or time frames and so work really has to have some sort of malleability to it. I ended up feeling rushed, frayed and the feeling I wasn?t doing anything particularly well.
I also don?t think I was as organised or focused as I feel now.
I had few years off between businesses and it gave me a chance to regroup and prioritise ? and that has been very helpful for me.
You launched your label 'BIG by Fiona Scanlan' after your second baby George. What was the motivator to move into children?s clothing?
I was aware of womenswear all too well. I also didn?t feel that I wanted to go back to something that would be compared to Scanlan & Theodore.
I felt I wanted to go into a different world but use the skill base that I had built up. I am a creative person who brims with ideas and I needed to do some channelling.
Being a parent I found buying children?s clothing to be a non-event, and kept on visualising what I wanted to see. I think I have always been driven by what I can?t find and what doesn?t exist.
Childrenswear is a unique zone that has different limitations to womenswear. I found this a nice new challenge.
What baby/children?s clothing labels inspire you?
I think in the back of my mind I am inspired by the beautiful pieces of clothing that my mother used to organise for my sister and I.
I think I am trying to recreate an element of ?special clothing? in the range as well.
Have there been times when you?ve considered giving up your work to become a full time mum?
Yes, but it is short lived.
As I say to my husband, I am a better wife for having a lot of challenges at work and at home. I love creating things and I love seeing people happy with making their children happy. I don?t think I would be very good as the stay at home, full time mum.
What is happening with ?BIG? this year?
We are constantly assessing what we do. Refining it, making it work better, back of house and front of house.
Getting both the BIG label and our teenage range FIONA online (hoorah?finally!).
It is a challenging time for a relatively new business with the overwhelming doom and gloom but all will be fine as long as we stay focused.
What things do you most enjoy in your work?
The creative side. Piecing it together and making it sing, from product through to in-store.
What kind of Australia do you hope for in regards to the future of your children?
A smart one. A country that sees what its differentiators are. A country that wants to preserve over destroying. One that sets the field for a country of the 21st century.
What would be one thing you want to pass onto your children?
A sense of decency.
Of thinking about others and seeing themselves as part of a bigger group, so their actions are accountable and they are responsible. But I also hope they live life to their true potential and enjoy themselves.
Fiona, finally a question all mums must face - what are you feeding your children for dinner tonight?
We go organic wherever we can with fresh, good quality produce.
We are also very concerned about nutrition and healthy eating. My household has some allergies and a vegetarian so it will be a series of salads (that can be used for lunch the following day) and fish or grilled meats.
Visit www.bigbyfiona.com
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