About Us

WHO I AM

Hi! I am Stella, the founder of Gliese 504. Although I use "we" a lot, it's just me! I use the word we several times for two reasons, firstly I want to manifest a team of people working for the business, secondly I have some collaborators that have worked alongside me. 

I have a big dream: change fashion as you know it. I love fashion, I studied it and I have always worked in the industry. Unfortunately though, it is ruining our planet. I witnessed thousands and thousands of garment incinerated or destroyed during my tenure, working mostly for big international brands or retailers. It's a widespread phenomenon and it's not the only issue that affects the industry, but this is what I decided I would concentrate on and try to do something about it. I am here, even if it's not easy, to show you that an alternative business models exist, and it's one that won't destroy our environment. Want to know more about how we implement a truly sustainable business model? Have a read here. 

I believe in sustainable, beautiful garments that don’t cost a fortune and say ‘thank you’ to the environment. I believe in reworking, reusing and upcycling. I think people should be proud of wearing second-hand and thrifted. I believe in a more circular industry and I think the way we do things is the only way forward. 

THE STORY

I started Gliese 504 in late 2017. After moving from Italy I didn't have money to buy new clothes, so I started to look at my wardrobe and the many pieces I wouldn't wear anymore. I wondered if altering some of my most loved garments would work, so I started to take sewing lessons. This is where I came across Kotoyo and other very special seamstresses. One of them suggested to watch The True Cost, and that's where I got shocked about the industry situation. So destroying perfectly new stock is a practice? What about the ethical issues involved in cheap manufacturing? Overproduction? It was all  overwhelming and there is only one way to overcome it: Do something about it. After all, being a designer and owning my clothing brand has always been my dream. 

In the first year we experimented a lot by altering pre-loved clothes. Coats becoming skirts, dresses becoming tops and more. It was a completely new process with many trial and errors. However, some amazing pieces came out and we were getting compliments from everybody so we thought we start selling on Etsy. From Etsy then we moved to Shopify! 

Fast forward in late 2019, a great opportunity came up. The popular Melbourne based label Nique asked us for a collaboration based on the Re-Shirt Collection. After launching our own we created one for them with their unsold stock! Yes! The beginning of a dream! So we upcycled Nique's garments! And we started selling them at their Melbourne stores! I could not believe it. The collaboration with Nique has now come a long way and is continuing also now. We do mostly tie-dye for them which have been a very popular, cheap way of moving huge quantities of stock. Want to know more about our ongoing collaboration with Nique? You can have a listen to this podcast interview we had with Julia English for her PhD.

After some time I also thought of starting to sell curated pre-loved. A selection of almost new garments that have been discarded but still deserve a life. Somebody trash is somebody else treasure. This is currently (2022) going strong, especially at markets! We also mixed our vintage with our one-off upcycled pieces and people love them! 

Sometimes we came up with lots and lots of new ideas and sometimes I am a bit stuck. One of the most successful was the Mega Scrunchie. I know, you would think we copied other brands (because everyone is doing oversized in everything now) or it's really very easy, but that's not the case. Hair accessories were genuinely the only way we found to recycle offcuts from the Re-Shirt Collection. The idea of the Mega came because I am always trying to design things that you can wear in several different ways. Indeed the Mega Scrunchie was originally both a scrunchie and a headband! It changed over the years, but the success has remained. 

Well, even though I had hard moments and this is often a challenge I think the work I am carrying forward is great and every year becomes even more relevant. I really hope you enjoy our products/ services and can/will support us. This brand would be nothing without its customers so if I am still in the journey it's mostly thanks to you.