After 15 years of helping women of all shapes and sizes find the perfect outfit, stylist Carolyn Rowland launched her own label, Cazinc the Label in 2018.
“I worked as a fashion stylist for more than 15 years and struggled to find quality womenswear that was timeless yet affordable. My clients wanted classic, contemporary styles to mix and match and keep in their wardrobes season after season,” explains Carolyn.
“They also shared my passion for slow fashion, quality garments made to the highest possible ethical standards.”
Carolyn is not only a certified image stylist with a 15 year old business, she is also a qualified Neuro Linguistic Programming Master Therapist and has a diploma in Business and Life Coaching, which are all extremely helpful qualifications when running a business day-to-day.
“I set out to design useful, wearable wardrobes that create planning for easy to wear styles a breeze. The label demonstrates a calming alternative for busy women to find versatile clothing, designed to last with chic and versatile pieces,” Carolyn says.
“This is the kind of thought-out problem-solving attitude CTL’s clients seek out in the brand, and this is what we cater for. CTL has shifted the design needle to form a useful, functional direction, so clients now have the problem of having too much choice, rather than a wardrobe full of clothes… yet nothing to wear!
“CTL collections are timeless yet read like a checklist of the season’s trends that take you from casual to work, events and weekends with minimal effort.”
Aside from wanting to design clothes that women need in their wardrobes, Carolyn is also dedicated to ensuring the brand is sustainably and ethically made.
“We proudly support ethical standards and practises, CTL takes a strong stance against fast fashion brands and has localised the process of designing and creating clothing out of good-quality breathable fabrics,” Carolyn says.
“CTL makes every effort to ensure we are continuously finding solutions for more sustainable approaches to fashion design. All our designs are 100% ethically made and we proudly won 2021 Ethical Label Of The Year via the Australian Enterprise awards.”
“Before establishing CTL in 2018, I researched how fast fashion is destroying lives and the planet, so it is crucial to create a label to change this pattern and winning the 2021 Ethical Label of The Year thrill and honour.”
Carolyn says that the core aim of the brand is to “break the cycle” and “educate shoppers about the lifetime value of products, rather than simply looking at the price”.
“The reality is that the cheaper you buy, the more you will waste, which throws people into a mindless consumption cycle. Consumption leads to waste and build up in our landfills, not to mention the workers behind those pieces are often poorly treated and underpaid,” explains Carolyn.
“CTL aims to break the cycle and educate clients to stop being distracted by low prices but looking at the lifetime value of what quality items can offer them. We will continue to create classic, stylish and functional designs for women.”
According to Carolyn, the brand wants to help people to make better choices when shopping for fashion.
“Our focus is on zero waste during the production and the use of high-quality, breathable, ethically made fabrics sourced from eco-conscious suppliers. We commit to continuously looking for improvements across the production and supply chain,” she says.
“We will continue to encourage consumers to take a green approach to fashion by investing in clothing that will last in both style and integrity. Improving fashion can positively impact the tens of millions of people working directly and hundreds of millions working indirectly for the industry.”
Carolyn says that she is “always researching new and innovative ways to improve our sustainability and zero waste policies. Our practises are 100% ethical and we are consistently working on improving our sustainability practises as this can always be improved”.
“For our last collection, we purchased fabric that would have ended up in landfill to make recyclable ‘deadstock’ bags. We are also researching recyclable fabrics made from bottle tops and other recycled materials, as we feel as an Australian business it’s our duty to continuously research and develop ways we can give back to the planet through eco-conscious clothing.”
The Cazinc the Label flagship store is located at 51 Rose Street Essendon 3040; or shop online at cazincthelabel.com You can follow the brand on Instagram at @cazincthelabel.
