It's not trends that drive Sally Sattler's success in the fashion world, rather a vision to promote environmental sustainability, Australian products and a desire to help rural women be the best versions of themselves.
Ms Sattler runs her online clothing business, Higher Road, from a mixed-farming property in Drillham, posting parcels to addresses all around Australia.
After travelling for work with energy companies, Ms Sattler chose to return home to south west Queensland two years ago and to grow her own clothing label, before branching out into retail in the form of an online boutique.
"Higher road evolved from a place of wanting to help rural women who weren't exactly full of confidence and maybe needed a bit of help to feel good and look good each day," Ms Sattler said.
"I wanted to create a space where women could come for their daily needs to elevate their personal style and everyday living.
"Prior to Higher Road I had a label which closed due to COVID and that's when I really sunk my teeth into it."
Ms Sattler said she wouldn't exactly call herself a fashion guru, despite just completing a personal styling course at the Australian Institute of Style, and preferred to steer away from negative connotations that fashion often holds in today's society.
"To me, fashion is a trend based word, whereas I prefer clothing to mean longevity and not just fast fashions or trends," she said.
"So I guess that's what sparked my passion for sustainable clothing and sustainable wardrobes.
"We champion natural textiles from our clothing to our accessories.
"We basically have three levels: we have Australian businesses that we support, rural businesses and labels, and then handmade things.
"Our candles are hand poured and a few of our accessories are hand stitched."
After some stressful ordeals with hiring clothing for events, Ms Sattler realised that there were several barriers affecting rural women when trying to find outfits for races and weddings.
Using her own experiences as a launchpad, Ms Sattler has started a hire business to run alongside her online clothing store, fittingly named Hire Road.
"We've found a niche there, as we're running it for rural women who are attending events," she said.
"I've found with my experience with hire, I've had some really positive hire experiences but there are those really problematic issues coming from the country, maybe the shipping times aren't long enough or the product range isn't always suitable for events out here.
"That's where Higher Road fits in, to support rural women attending shows, weddings. I know the outfits that I like to wear, so hopefully I can help likeminded women.
After investing in a designer clothing collection, Ms Sattler plans to open Hire Road to customers towards the start of April, but is currently offering one-on-one hiring assistance to women in desperate need of a frock.
Apart from wanting to offer a smooth experience tailored to women in remote areas, Hire Road is underpinned by Ms Sattler's endeavour to promote sustainability through re-wearing, which is also a great way for customers to save money.
"There is a huge impact on the world with the amount of fashion that we use so if we can lower that percentage, I think it will have a huge benefit," she said.
"It's been really positively received, so I'm really happy about that."
As well as selling and hiring outfits to customers around the country, Ms Sattler also operates on a local level, travelling around to rural shows and running pop-up stores in different towns that don't necessarily have access to clothing stores.
"I did a large tour from Katherine through to home last year, and did pop-ups through the outback, around Katherine, Mount Isa, Winton, Longreach, Muttaburra, Barcaldine, Alpha, Tambo and Morven," she said.
"Now I'm focusing more on rural events, shows and serving the communities that support my online store.
"If I can bring something to a region and share a little feel good about the town I will.
"I also give back to communities through sponsorship at local events, races and rural shows. I'll often sponsor fashions on the field or judge, I try to give back that way making it a little easier on committees that have a tough job.
"It upsets me to see our regional areas and country way of life struggling, so if I can give back and make things a little easier on the communities I will."
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