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.’”