STYLESTALKER
Label to love · Sydney · From the Ninu Nina archive
Stylestalker
the lovechild of Sue-Ann San and Rachel Zeilic
Two self-confessed style addicts who couldn't find the clothes they wanted in Australia, so they made them.
I'm loving Stylestalker's new lookbook, "Come As You Are."
Rachel and Sue-Ann were brought together by a shared addiction to "stylestalking": scouring magazines, trawling the web and travelling to every corner of the world to devour all things style. So they started their own label to satisfy their funky fashion cravings.
And their latest campaign is off the charts. I'm dying. I think I need those striped pants and the Converse-meets-stripper heels, as soon as possible.
- Photographer
- Kimberly Gordon (Wildfox)
- Model
- Alex Spencer (4th & Bleeker)
- Styling
- Sue-Ann San and Rachel Zeilic
Their rule #1: have a role model
Christine Centenera
"We both really look up to Christine Centenera, the senior fashion editor of Vogue Australia, for her sense of fashion and her drop-dead good looks."
Their fashion week, day by day
In May 2011 the pair kept a diary of Australian Fashion Week for Vogue Australia. They had just flown in from the fabric markets in China, jet-lagged and gathering fabric for their next collection. Here are the highlights.
Monday
Seven shows, starting at 8am backstage at Zimmermann, staged in a vintage car garage. A chat with Julia Nobis. Bec & Bridge's shirt clips and dip-dyed knits. Their first time sitting front row.
Favourite show of the week: Friend of Mine, styled by their friend Alex Spencer.
Tuesday
Twin Peaks femmes fatales at Therese Rawsthorne. Snakeskin and beading at Sara Phillips. Dancing to Justin Timberlake backstage at Miss Unkon until the make-up artists shooed them away. Then the Bec & Bridge after-party, behind a secret door in a vintage bookstore.
Wearing: Rachel in the Stylestalker Damned shirt and concho belts; Sue-Ann in fur over a Stylestalker wet T-shirt dress.
Wednesday
Hundreds of candles at Tallulah. Glow-in-the-dark finale at Magdalena Velevska. Mirrors and sequins at Shakuhachi, across from Christine Centenera herself. Then dressing DJs Nina Las Vegas and Anna Lunoe.
Wearing: Rachel in the Stylestalker Addict skater dress; Sue-Ann in the Ceremony dress and vintage fur.
Thursday
Dion Lee's origami folding at the Sydney Opera House, the most anticipated show of the week. Ellery, their favourite Australian label. Pom-poms and punk at Stolen Girlfriends Club, then the after-party.
Friday
No shows. Behind on their own collection, they spent the day sketching. Their rule: don't make anything you're not dying over. "I die" was heard a lot.
Adapted from Sue-Ann San and Rachel Zeilic's Australian Fashion Week diary for Vogue Australia, 12 May 2011.
From law school to the closets of the internet
If you shop online, you've probably come across Stylestalker, The Jet Set Diaries or Majorelle on sites like Revolve. The creative mind behind all three is Rachel Zeilic, who went on to become VP of Influencer and Talent Relations at Clique Brands.
What you may not know is that she started out as a law graduate with no fashion training at all. The Sydney native fell for fashion on summer trips to Europe during university, discovering high-street labels like Zara, Mango and Topshop that weren't available in Australia at the time. She left law to fill that gap.
"I hated law. It just wasn't me. So I decided to start my own fashion line, even though I had no idea what I was doing."
All she really knew, she has said, was that she wanted to make trendy, affordable pieces for young women like her. Looking back, it's the same instinct that ran through the 2011 diary: two friends who learned the industry from the front row and the backstage chaos, and built labels around what they themselves were dying to wear.
Quick answers
Who founded Stylestalker?
Sue-Ann San and Rachel Zeilic, in Sydney. They started the label to make the trend-led, affordable clothes they couldn't find in Australia.
What other brands did Rachel Zeilic create?
The Jet Set Diaries and Majorelle, sold on sites such as Revolve. She has also worked as VP of Influencer and Talent Relations at Clique Brands.
Did Rachel Zeilic study fashion?
No. She studied law, then fell for high-street fashion on trips to Europe and left law to start her own label.
- Vogue Australia — Sue-Ann San and Rachel Zeilic's Australian Fashion Week diary, 12 May 2011
- The Zoe Report — Stylestalker's style rules
- Campaign credits via Stylestalker and Because I'm Addicted
