Behind the scenes with Bec & Bridge

Ahead of their runway show at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival, we chat with creative duo Becky Cooper and Bridget Yorston of Australian fashion label Bec & Bridge about backstage stress, keeping current and not taking fashion too seriously.

Our day-to-day is not glamorous at all.

The industry definitely has its moments of glamour, like VAMFF, when you think, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what we do,’ but it’s not always like that. By the time we’re done with a show we are exhausted and we don’t have a lot of time to party and celebrate.

A fashion festival is a welcome event in our calendar year.

Because Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF) is a consumer event, the clothes aren’t on a deadline like they are at fashion week and the festival is geared to the public. It’s actually a really nice, exciting time, if you want tp dress up to the occasion and get your wardrobe improved, shop here . There’s still the normal prep you have to do and making sure the styling is OK, but because the clothes are ready to go and the collection is about to hit stores, we’ve already done a lot of the stressful part of getting that collection together months beforehand.

For industry events, like fashion week, it’s a lot more intense.

The collections don’t drop until six months later, so an industry show feels a lot more pressured and it’s a lot more deadline-driven. You have a million things going on at once with samples coming off the machines right before the show.

I think we’ll always get nervous before a show.

It’s unavoidable when you’re putting part of yourself on a catwalk. In the case of a consumer show, you’d be worried a garment hasn’t been put on the models in the right way, because we’re not backstage. We’ve had garments put on backwards.

For consumer shows like VAMFF, we get to watch the show. I don’t know if that’s worse, it’s nerve-wracking either way. Sometimes you’re watching and think ‘Oh, that wasn’t styled right!’ but it’s good to have the consumer point of view.

In an industry show we are either very focused and know exactly what we’re doing or we are completely lost.

It can be a bit overwhelming, but because we have such a great team working with us, there are times where we feel a bit redundant backstage. We are down on the floor tying shoes up or cutting threads off clothes.

We not only have our design team but we have our stylists and their team and makers, and the production crew who are running the whole show. There are lots of people and everyone is responsible, everything is covered.

The amount of time spent on a show is crazy.

The lead-up can be weeks or months. Even just making sure the right shoes are assigned to the right model and that you have the right sizes can be two days’ work. It’s a jigsaw and a lot of problem-solving. There’s not a lot of sleep before a show.

You want people to relate to what’s coming down the catwalk.

Consumers need to be able to see themselves wearing it. But you also want them to feel a sense of excitement and get a bit reinvigorated about fashion.

Lots of things contribute to that such as the music, the models, the light. A lot of factors go into creating that atmosphere. We want them to enjoy it, like you would a performance.

You have to be so on your game.

The industry has changed in the last 16 years (since we started out) and it’s a lot more competitive now, so you can’t really drop the ball with any season. You have to keep pushing yourself creatively and pushing the collection.

It’s not even necessarily competition with other designers, it’s almost just being competitive with yourself. You can’t become stagnant or apathetic, and don’t ever become complacent.

Our advice to new designers would be to have a clear vision, but be flexible.

It’s a fine line; as a creative, you want a really strong vision but you also need to be open to learning and getting feedback, experimenting a little bit and listening to your market.

Our first show seems so long ago!

I think we have become more nervous as the years have gone on. There is something about being young and naive. Now it feels like there’s more at stake, whereas back then it didn’t feel like there was as much pressure, which probably worked to our advantage. We probably need our own advice now!

We often ask each other what the other one thinks.

One of us will say, ‘I’m really worried about this’ and the other will say, ‘Oh are you? I’m not worried about that one, I’m worried about this one.’

We’ve worked together for so long that we know each other so well and definitely help talk each other through things, but we are pretty on par with most things.

It’s always very flattering when buyers come backstage and are excited about the collection.

That’s really affirming. It’s one thing from a fashion perspective and design aesthetic for it to be a successful show, but for your retailer to be able to see it selling is the balance you always try to strive for.

We’ve always designed for someone who is quite raw, healthy and confident.

Bec & Bridge is for strong women who know what they like, but are also willing to experiment with fashion a little bit. They don’t get too caught up in trends but are happy to try the trends when they happen and have fun with it, and not take it too seriously.

We can be a bit anti-fashion in that we try not to take ourselves or fashion too seriously.

When the industry takes itself too seriously, it becomes unattractive and too insular. It’s meant to be fun and it’s meant to make you feel good about yourself.

It’s a creative outlet and we like to be able to create positive clothes for girls to feel good wearing, but when it starts to become more than that, it’s off-putting.

Both our fathers are doctors, so they can offer us no advice on the business whatsoever.

Bridget: Bec was going to do medicine until a week before she decided to study fashion design and that’s where we met.

Bec: I was always torn at school between art and science and something clicked in my head just before I was about to decide and I thought, ‘No, I want to do fashion.’

Catch Bec & Bridge at the Premium Runway 2, presented by ELLE Australia, during VAMFF on 15 March at 9pm.

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat , now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate , whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor , who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will , who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods . “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield , embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House .

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument , which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds .

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens , hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Behind the scenes with fashion designers Bec & Bridge