Nothing captures summer fashion better than soft, floaty dresses, playful printed playsuits and cute crop top and fitted short combos.
Fifteen year old Gold Coast City fashion entrepreneur and master of all trades Ashlee Stevens has got the summer design brief down pat, with her unique, funky fashion business, Mossy.
The Marymount College Year 11 student studies a Diploma in Fashion Styling and Media at school by day and in her spare time, she designs the ever growing Mossy range, manages the businesses social media presence, develops the website, hand sews some of the Mossy Made collection and then models the clothes for the website.
Travelling to Thailand frequently with her family, Ashlee’s fashion instincts and her Mum’s business savvy led her to buy some fashion pieces and post them online for sale in Australia. Ashlee’s brother Nick snapped some photos of her modelling kimonos, she experimented with Instagram and from there, Mossy was born.
“My mum showed me how to set up and receive payments online and then we posted some items to the girls who wanted to buy them.” Ashlee said.
“I then decided to make some of my own shorts and halter tops. I watched tutorials on You Tube to learn how to, took photos wearing them and then these sold.”
Drawing inspiration from her entrepreneurial Mum, Sandra Stevens, now the business development manager for Mossy and previous owner of Gypsy Girl Boutique, Ashlee took some Mum-led lessons in needlework and took Mossy to the next level.
“My mum started helping me sew the tops and shorts to get the quality up. Mum had just sold her business Gypsy Girl Boutique and then decided to open a Mossy Boutique in Mooloolaba. We stayed there for a year and then decided to move back to the Gold Coast, where I was born 15 years ago!”
According to Ashlee, Mossy embraces a “coastal holiday style” but like the rapidly moving fashion industry, is ever-evolving.
“I love fun prints and sets and as I am growing, so is my fashion tastes. For now, we are targeting young teens with casual shorts and tops with a few playsuits moving towards a Boho style.” Ashlee said.
“I love my mums 80’s fashions – high waist jeans, big t-shirts and denim jackets. These are a real inspiration for Mossy right now.” Ashlee said.
Starting their physical Gold Coast City presence at the iconic Village Markets, the Mossy crew moved their wares to Robina Town Centre, where they currently operate Mossy Boutique.
With the business still in growing stage and still developing production readiness, Mossy Boutique stocks both exclusive Mossy designs, as well as a selection of other labels that fit with the Mossy signature style, such as a couple of Mossy crew favourites, Betty Basics and Paper Heart.
Mossy Business Development Manager and Mum extraordinaire, Sandra, says the labels Mossy Boutique carry suit their pre-teen target market, but there is something too for the Mum’s who come in with their daughters.
Ashlee is aiming for the stars with her Mossy dreams and it seems likely she will get there too. Embodying the Gold Coast City entrepreneurial spirit, Ashlee says expansion within Gold Coast City and into other Australian fashion capitals, such as Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney is high on the list of her Mossy business goals.
“We also aim to have a whole store full of Mossy made merchandise, to build and expand our brand.” Ashlee said.
The move to Robina Town Centre is proving to be a fruitful one, with shoppers at Gold Coast City’s leading shopping and dining destination loving the Mossy location.
“Following the Village Markets, we took on a casual shop space at Robina Town Centre, which has been the start of our future Mossy growth.” Sandra said.
“The Centre has people shopping from all over Australia and we are building our regular followers, both in-store and online. We get great feedback from our customers how they love our store and love our product.” Sandra said.
In an exciting upcoming move, Mossy will relocate their boutique into a permanent shop space at Robina Town Centre, allowing the Mossy team to design the whole retail shop, with an expected opening date of 1 June 2015.
Follow Gold Coast City’s family-founded fashion empire on Instagram and Facebook, plus shop online at www.mossyboutique.com
