Helen Manuell, 56, Hawthorn, Vic shares her story below…
I bolted down the path to Grandma’s house.
The year was 1975 and I stayed there every second weekend.
It was magical – Grandma Olive was patient and wise, and although I was only six, she took me seriously.
She often set up materials in the spare room for some new project.
This time she’d laid out a neat square of fabric next to a needle and thread.
“I’m going to teach you to stitch,” she smiled, sitting beside me.
She taught me to sew on buttons and master tiny stitches.
In time, she even showed me how to knit and wrangle the sewing machine.
Textiles became my happy place.
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It made sense – I came from a long line of dressmakers.
My Aunt Margot was a wardrobe mistress on iconic Aussie films like Mad Max and The Man from Snowy River.
I idolised her and in high school, I often spent lunch breaks knitting garments.
After graduation, I studied accounting, but on weekends, I made children’s clothes to sell at local markets.
Five years into my accounting career, I admitted the truth to Mum.
“My heart isn’t in accounting,” I said. “I just want to make clothes.”
“You always have my support,” she replied.It was all the permission I needed.
Quitting my job, I created sample garments which were picked up by brands such as Levi’s and Adidas.
I went on to design dresses for WAGs at the Brownlow Medal, and saw my work at the Logies, and I even appeared on Project Runway Australia.
In 2002, I started my own bridal brand.
It supported me through the arrival of my two daughters, Soph in 2002 and Chloe in 2009.
But deep down, the mass waste of the fashion industry troubled me.
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Then, in 2020, COVID halted weddings and I gradually wound down the business.
At the time, I was going through a divorce and doing some soul searching.
I need a new challenge, I thought. At 53, I enrolled in RMIT’s School of Fashion and Textiles.
The other students were young enough to be my children, but I embraced the chance to stretch myself.
Often, classmates would come to me for help and I could feel a bit of Grandma Olive in me.
“Thanks, Mum,” they’d joke.
For my graduate collection, A Slow Mindset, I drew aesthetic inspiration from First Nations artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
Using a spinning wheel, I crafted an eclectic range out of second-hand yarn as a push back against fast fashion, winning Melbourne Fashion Week’s Graduate Student Award.
In 2025, I started a new label under my name, Helen Manuell, for my knitwear.
Each unique item was designed with intention and heart.
In February 2026, my work featured at the Melbourne Fashion Festival.
I saw your work, a friend messaged afterwards. It’s so you!
It was the best compliment I could ask for.
Now, I’m doing Honours with hopes of completing a PhD in fashion sustainability.
People say women become invisible in their 50s, but I couldn’t care less.
For the first time, I’m being unapologetically myself, and wearing it well.
