Jade Sarita Arnott (pictured) Photography by Ian Waldie

I have been closely following the progression of Arnsdorf as both a brand and as the soul of a woman who since from her earliest beginnings has remained faithful to the authenticity of personal experiences and living memory. With a German family background and a Melbournian upbringing, Jade Sarita Arnott has remarkably showed a level of professionalism and proactivity unseen by some of her contemporaries. I visited Melbourne earlier in the year and met Jade in Melbourne’s suburb of Fitzroy where her temporary pop-up shop was stationed. A geological rock lay inhabited in the store’s entrance only then to welcome a calm assembly of her ‘And You Love’ collection. Her hair was shorter than previous, wearing a pair of Arnsdorf organic shorts and wooden clogs that only she could pull off.

I had brought with me my beloved themed issue ‘Elegance’ by Acne Paper published three years ago to converse with her that the French tight roper Philippe Petit who with lion’s heart courageously walked between the then standing Twin Towers in New York had summed up her ‘And You Love’ collection succinctly by which the range’s manifesto about taking risks was explained many times over. Perhaps it is her demure and generous demeanor that makes what she does more attractive. Being an Australian designer has not bounded her because it means her concentrated creativity on making garments can come from a multitude of directions. American photographer Mark Borthwick, American filmmaker Miranda July, the soundscapes of cosmopolitan travelling and even such experiences of professional ice-skaters have been points of inspiration.

From the fine-tuning of the label’s typography, the chosen aesthetic and collaborations with individual photographers to the charming uncoated printed collateral, Arnsdorf does not exist only in physically beautiful archetypal garments but as a living lattice of creative synergy. Only recently, for her ‘Opticks’ collection, she chose to work with Roanne Adams, a New York based art-director and designer who within design circles has gained the recognition of producing work for labels such as Lorick NYC, Bodkin and the ‘Lost Souls’ photography book for Lena Herzog. Now based in New York City, caught in the misty milleu of formulating her next set of ideas for Fall 2012, Jade Sarita Arnott speaks to Cultures In Between since her show presentation at Australian Fashion Week in May:

Introduction by Mike Huynh