PROFILE
Warren
Harrison
Scott Benedictine has evolved quite slowly, tell us a bit about this journey.
It has indeed. It’s kind of been there the whole time, but I was always waiting ‘just a bit longer’ to start releasing. It’s that kind of mentality you hear of so often in creatives, that they’re never happy with their work. You’re forever in pursuit of your ideas. You make mistakes and learn every time. You’re constantly bettering your practice, and consequently always left feeling like your best work is yet to come. So you hold back on putting anything out there.
I’d work at my day job either making coffee in a café or cutting for a tailor house, and then work on my own cutting at night trying to catch up. I had a launch for Scott Benedictine in 2012 but that was purely for the concept. Since then I only made pieces for friends and photo shoots, until last year when the tailor house I worked for closed its doors and the timing felt right. Some courage, a NEIS small business course and six months later, Scott Benedictine became real.
How do your personal values shape your work?
I like to think there’s an honesty and respect for hard work in my values. One of the main things that’s become apparent to me is the need to keep questioning. Perhaps it’s a backlash to working in tailoring, but I like wearing looser fitting clothing. I was told that they didn’t ‘fit’ properly, but I decided that ‘fit’ is a relative concept that should be given to the wearer to decide. People are too often told in fashion what size they should be wearing and how, but I feel it should be more about how they feel beneath the garment. It’s personal.
How would you describe your relationship with fashion/clothing?
It’s good, I think we have a nice relationship. I feel it would be a little different to that of others. I rarely buy clothing and, as a maker, my concept of garment value sees the time and care that went into making it. Personally, I’d probably see detailing and craftsmanship before I saw a brand name. I think there’s a lot of room for the thought processes in and around fashion to grow, and there really seems to be a surge in the number of people wishing to know more. I hope this continues.
Warren Harrison
“Slow fashion to me is purely a return to conscious thought. A deeper level of connection and understanding between maker and consumer. An honesty in fashion.”
The Slow Fashion movement means…
Slow fashion to me is purely a return to conscious thought. A deeper level of connection and understanding between maker and consumer. An honesty in fashion.
What is your personal uniform?
I feel most comfortable in a standard black shirt and tight black jeans. I remember once reading something in an interview with Rick Owens, about how he wears the same thing every day. I realise now that there’s something in that. A uniform affords a comfort that leaves your stresses free for other areas. It doesn’t mean that you’re not expressing your personality, it just means you’re doing it via other means.
I also feel I may have some form of synesthesia when it comes to wearing colour. Black is comfortable for me—it’s quiet yet speaks strength. Wearing colours just doesn’t feel as natural.
How have your attitudes toward fashion changed as you've aged?
The biggest change to date for me would be this year. Deciding to take the step to put my label in the marketplace has been beyond scary. Even though I was working for a tailor house, working in my studio after hours was where I really felt comfortable. While the notion of ‘the only person you should be trying to impress is yourself’ still reigns true, the fear of my work not resonating with others still seeps in. The biggest change has been taking that step regardless of my fears. It means I now also focus on smaller aspects of fashion rather than just big ideas and conceptual projects—the business side as well as the social media side. Trying to build strong and lasting foundations so I can continue to do what I love for quite some time.
There’s also a huge openness now to working with others and across different platforms. I love Melbourne, and we have such a vast amount of incredible talent coming through here (and around Australia). If there are means to somehow collaborate or work together then there’s a world of amazing ideas yet to come.
Initially, I found in fashion, or maybe just in small business, there seems to be this feeling that you’re competing with others in your field for crumbs. My personal standpoint is that we’re far stronger together than we are apart and after all, there’s probably no-one else more attuned to exactly what you’re going through than them. I took a step one day and made a point of contacting those whose work I love and respect, and the impression of competition just completely faded away. There’s even an exciting collaboration coming up this year that I can’t tell you about yet. There is so much talent around doing amazing things, and I am beyond excited to see them thrive.
Warren Harrison
"I rarely buy clothing and, as a maker, my concept of value of a garment sees the time and care that went into making it. Personally, I’d probably see detailing and craftsmanship before I saw a brand name. I think there’s a lot of room for the thought processes in and around fashion to grow, and there really seems to be a surge in the number of people wishing to know more. I hope this continues."
Who / what do you look to for style cues and why?
I don’t tend to read many magazines or pay much attention to style or trend forecasts, and there are very few designers I look to for inspiration (though there are some). I tend to get cues and design ideas from unrelated areas and try to transpose them into what I do. I recently watched a documentary on the composer Arvo Pärt, and I got a lot out of listening to how he perceives his work and the creation process. It requires an understanding, or at least a questioning of ‘why?’ In fashion this could be encapsulated by the Yohji quote: ‘Are you listening? The fabric has much to teach us’.
Is there a garment that has had a special place in your life or is linked to a treasured moment?
Well, at 32 I still wholeheartedly believe that certain socks and underwear I own are luckier than others! I’d actually say the garments that mean the most to me aren’t mine anymore. There’s something so incredibly amazing about seeing someone wearing a garment you’ve made, something that is the product of your hard work. That’s a treasured moment! I get such a kick out of it.
What tends to keep you up at night?
Oh, man. An overactive mind and too many coffees...and daily, I don’t seem to learn. Ha.
In a more serious response, I contemplated how to answer this openly. I’ve always struggled on and off with depression. It seems to happen less and less now, the better I get at understanding and dealing with it, but it’s always something I’m aware of in the back of my mind.
Initially the concept/brand behind the label was a projection of this and was a lot darker than it is now. Seemingly stoic, the character was one that was ultimately good at heart, but felt isolated. The photography and landscapes were eerily beautiful like foggy mountaintops—my friends affectionately now call this ‘fog-core’. Even the tagline was ‘Put your boots on, we’re going out into the cold’. It suggested that no matter the struggle, you must persevere.
Who has impacted your life the most and how so?
My sister. I can honestly say that without her, and her selfless nature, I’d be in a very different place to where I am now. That said, growing up it was my mum and my two sisters that taught me how to sew and inspired me. So can I also say ‘family’ here as my response.
Photography Stuart Chen
Creative Direction Olivia Smythe & Sigrid McCarthy
Styling Olivia Smythe
Model Bee @ London Mgt
HMUA Jessica Canzano
Thanks to Scott Benedictine
