Natalie Wood, creator of local label Something Else has won the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year award in the Designer category, after being voted “most fearless” by the magazine's readers.
The Woman of the Year awards, reserved for the winner of Cosmopolitan magazine's “Fun Fearless Female” Competition, is now in its fifth year running, and asks readers to vote for who they believe to be the “strongest, most inspirational, fun and fearless females in Australia”.
This year, the competition attracted a record number of votes – 218,000 nationally – which were then narrowed down to 33 finalists across 11 categories.
Wood beat out fellow designers Jamie Blakey of One Teaspoon, and Bec and Bridge brand duo Becky Cooper and Bridget Yorston to win the title, which was announced at an awards ceremony in Sydney’s Catalina restaurant earlier this week. As a Woman of the Year, Wood will also receive $10,000 from competition's sponsor, Libra.
Wood said she attributes her win to the popularity of the Something Else label and its overall customer appeal.
“I think my win as a candidate comes down to my label Something Else appealing to lots of different people. It's a very inclusive brand, I like to think anyone could come and buy a piece from the collection and feel great wearing the clothes. It's so great to think those loyal fans took the time to vote for me,” she said.
“This is really also so fantastic for my brand Something Else and myself as a designer to be recognised for a design award like this. In particular the fact that it was all from public voting is very exciting as it truly highlights that we have a really passionate customer and a loyal following. And now this award will make that even stronger in awareness for the brand.”
Despite her success, Wood said she has encountered many challenges with building her fashion label, but advised aspiring designers to research their target market and always keep the customer in mind.
“The challenges with a fashion label are almost endless! Particularly with all the crazy financial times over the past two years. But this is what keeps me motivated in many ways, to be clever enough to overcome these. The biggest challenge has been getting my team right. To be successful you really have to make sure everyone you work with is bringing even more expertise to the business than you have. Then I'd say the ongoing challenge is Australia having opposite seasons to the rest of the world. Working internationally this really makes things extra tricky. We've been working on global ranges now for a few seasons but it's probably the hardest thing to get right. Obviously not something you can change but have to work out ways to do it better and better every season.”
“I think the biggest piece of advice I can give aspiring designers is to really think about the market, and if there's a place for your label then make sure you do it really well. And always remember it's about the customer - not about you! There's no room to just design for yourself.”