Future Makers: Lee Mathews, Founder & Designer
Before there were stores in Paddington, Mosman and Melbourne, there were "frock sales", clothes made at home and sold from lounge rooms, with customers giving instant, honest feedback on what they wanted to wear. It's an unlikely beginning for a label that would go on to define a certain kind of considered, fabric-first Australian style, but for Lee Mathews, it was never about following the traditional pathway.
In this edition of Future Makers, Lee talks about the quiet, organic decisions that built her business one store at a time, the mentors, from Brana Wolf to Mark Keighery whose lessons still shape how she works, and why knowing your customer matters more than any five-year plan.
What was your first start in the industry and can you share your career journey? Was there a pivotal moment in your career that led you or pushed you to where you are today?
I didn’t really start Lee Mathews through the traditional fashion industry pathway. It began very simply, from my kitchen table. I used to make clothes and sell them from my house, or other people’s houses, a bit like an Avon lady - except it was clothes. We called them “frock sales”. There’s nothing like an Avon party to tell you what people want to buy: immediate feedback, right there in front of you. That was the market research.
I knew how to make clothes because my Nanna taught me to sew. I’d also studied home economics at school and learned to embroider, which I loved. I was always drawn to fabric. At the time, I had small children and couldn’t work full time, and this was before e-commerce existed, so I needed to find a way to make and sell things.
I did the frock sales for about a year before Belinda discovered the collection and placed the first wholesale order. She had beautiful multi-brand boutiques across Sydney and Melbourne, and she was an incredible buyer. That was the first moment where it started to become something beyond my home.
Within a year or so, we took over a small space on Barrenjoey Road in Newport. It was originally a workspace, but we cleaned up the windows and allowed people to come in and buy what was hanging on the rack - essentially samples. That was the beginning. The whole business eventually grew from that little arcade: offices behind the store, the cutting room and pattern room behind that.
Then, when the kids went to school five or six years later, we opened more stores - Melbourne first, then Paddington, Mosman and Carlton. I’d call it retail expansion now, but honestly, there wasn’t really a big strategy, budget or rollout plan at the time. A space would become available, it was affordable, and we thought, why not? That was how each store came about.
I wouldn’t say there was one single pivotal moment that led me here. It was more of a gradual evolution - a series of small decisions, opportunities and relationships that shaped the business over time.If anything, collaborating with other designers was a real turning point. Creating collections with other people is a much more enjoyable and rewarding process than doing everything alone, which I did for many years. It changed the way I approach creativity and reinforced the importance of collaboration.
Then COVID changed everything. We had grown quite organically until that point, and suddenly it became about adapting, reassessing and finding new ways forward. It was a challenging period, but it also gave us the opportunity to reflect on what mattered most and how we wanted to continue evolving Lee Mathews
Are there any mentors or influential figures who played a key role in your leadership style?
The mentor I’ve had throughout my entire career is Brana Wolf. The way she approaches what she does, the way she thinks and the way she solves problems has been a constant influence on me. She taught me a lot about working through a collection, staying focused and finding a way forward when things aren’t always clear.
But really, it’s all the people you end up working with and learning from along the way. Jane Parker, former design director of Country Road was incredible - she brought a level of discipline and structure that was very different to my natural way of working. And Mark Keighery at Marcs, whose mantra was “never assume”. Anyone who worked with him would remember that. I don’t think there was a conversation about anything in the business where that wasn’t said, and it’s something that has stayed with me.
When you spend so much time at work, and when it’s your own business it becomes your life’s work, you naturally find yourself reflecting on situations all the time: what would they have done? What would they have thought? Does this feel right?
I don’t think leadership comes from one person. It’s shaped by all the people you encounter, the lessons you take from them and the experiences that influence the way you approach decisions, creativity and problem solving.
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced on your pathway, and how did you overcome it?
We’re a self-funded business, which is quite unusual these days. I’ve never been someone who has been driven by growth for growth’s sake, I’ve always been focused on making beautiful things and building something meaningful but running a business means you do have to think about the bottom line.
One of the biggest challenges as a founder has been learning to step back from my own personal preferences and listen to the perspectives of others. You become so connected to what you create, so it takes trust to allow other people into that process and to make decisions together, whether that’s around a collection, pricing, or the direction of the business. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s part of learning.
You take a lot of risks in this industry, and they don’t all pay off. There have been seasons that haven’t worked as we hoped, and you have to live with those consequences and keep moving forward. That’s really just learning on the job.
Our industry is 77% female, however this is not the case at executive level. Do you believe the Australian fashion industry has evolved over the years, particularly in its support for women leaders? What can we all do to help change this statistic?
I think the industry has evolved, but there is still work to do. I’ve been fortunate to work with many incredible women throughout my career, and I’ve seen how much stronger businesses are when different perspectives are represented.
We all have a role to play in mentoring, supporting and creating opportunities for the next generation of leaders.
What's one piece of advice you’d share with someone aiming to follow in your footsteps?
Know who your customer is. Really, really know who your customer is, because if you don’t understand who they are, it’s very difficult to know where to point yourself.
Your customer should guide so much of what you do from the product you create, to how you communicate, to the experience you build around your brand. It doesn’t mean you stop evolving or trying new things, but having a clear understanding of who you are creating for gives you a strong foundation.
