Australian label Sass & Bide‘s founders, Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke, have bid adieu to the label they launched in 1999. The news broke on Friday, when department store Meyer, who bought a majority stake in the brand in 2011 and then took full control last year, announced the pair’s departure, noting that it had been in the works for some time. “Both Heidi and Sarah-Jane have been slowly transitioning out of the business, and it has now reached a point where both girls feel confident that the business will go on to grow and thrive without their day-to-day involvement,” read a release.
Having launched with covetable customized denim, Sass & Bide, which has grown to include ready-to-wear and accessories, is easily one of the most high-profile Australian brands when it comes to international success—the collection has been shown at both New York and London fashion weeks, and there are twenty-five freestanding stores spread throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., specifically in New York. Middleton and Clarke will be replaced by designer Anthony Cuthbertson, who cut his teeth at Daks, Moncler, Max Mara, and Sportmax, among others, and art director Bonnie O’Hare, the former art director of Tommy Hilfiger Europe.
