From Party to Runway, a Peek Inside Romance Was Born

What do you get when two creative souls meet at a house party? Well, in the case of Anna and Luke, you get Romance Was Born! 

This week on our Sweet Gigs, we go behind-the-scenes of the bold prints, wild collaborations, and a whole lot of personality of Romance Was Born and discover how Anna and Luke have turned their passions into a runway revolution. We’re unpacking how they dreamt up their iconic collections, where they find inspiration (spoiler: it’s everywhere!), and why their homes are just as fun and fabulous as their designs.

Every iconic brand has its own origin story, and Romance Was Born is no exception. We’re curious, how did you both first meet? Can you take us back to the early days and share how you two came together to create this visionary brand? 

Anna and I meet at fashion school, like any great romance we meet at a house party. It was Anna's house actually, she invited me we got really drunk and bonded over music and other things we had in common and danced the night away. After we started to work on creative projects together at college, and slowly and very organically it turned into a business.

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Romance Was Born is known for its bold, imaginative collections that are brimming with energy and colour. From your signature prints to the surreal elements in each piece, where do you both draw inspiration from and how do you maintain creativity? Are there any unexpected sources that spark your ideas? 

We are inspired by everything from music, film, food, people on the street, characters in film, museum collections and of course art. Because we started working together due to our mutual interests, in music art films etc….. We are always talking about things we love or things that might work for a collection. There is no end to our inspiration, almost to the point it becomes a hindrance more than a help. We always want to do more and there is never enough time. 

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As two of the most innovative minds in fashion, your personal spaces must be just as inspiring and eclectic as your collections. We’ve heard you’re both somewhat house-obsessed! Can you give us an insight into your home and tell us how your homes reflect your personality? 

We both love all eras of fashion art film and furniture architecture. We love practical and minimal and totally maximalist and impractical. Both our homes are more a collection than a certain style I guess like our brand it’s a style of its own, and deeply personal. 

We are also so blessed to have some really amazing art from some of our friends like Del Kathryn Barton, Patricia Piccinini and Ken Done for example. Our darling mate Saskia from Sydney Florist Grandiflora really spoils us with blooms so we usually have flowers in pride of place. And of course Kip&Co sheets on our beds !!!

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Over the years, Romance Was Born has collaborated with incredible artists, musicians, and creatives, but we can’t help but wonder - if you could team up with anyone, who would be the dream collaborator? 

Last year we dressed Bjork, it’s been a dream since we started, and it would be our wildest fantasy to work on some more performance pieces with her. What an incredible human !!! 

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Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for Romance Was Born in 2025? Without giving too much away, can you share a sneak peek into any exciting new projects, collections, or collaborations we can expect to see from you next year? 

Well, we have a few things in the pipeline to celebrate our anniversary….we are doing a small collaboration with the national film and sound archive using images of “Muriel's Wedding” one of our favourite films and working with the incredible artist Laura Jones on a collection, which are both really exciting. 

We all know the magic you create together as a team, but beyond the incredible designs, the collections, and the collaborations, what’s something surprising about you both that people might not know? 

If I wasn’t a designer I'd be a chef and if Anna wasn't a designer she would be a gardener.