2024, That's A Wrap!

I always like to reflect at this time of year—to celebrate and embrace the lessons learned that will help guide me through the next year.

And wow, 2024, what a journey this year has been. To be honest, it started out in a rut, with thoughts of walking away from the brand and heading off in a new direction. I felt uninspired, unmotivated, and completely burnt out, though I didn’t even realise it at the time. What felt like months of uncertainty and darkness eventually transformed into rest and recovery, leading to one of our biggest years of growth yet—not just in sales, but in understanding who we are as a brand and the impact we want to make in the world.

This year wasn’t about product launches, collaborations, or awards. It was about internal growth and laying new foundations for the vision of La Sierra. It was a year of connection: connection to self, to La Sierra as a brand, and to our incredible makers in Peru. It was a magical, spacious year with so much to celebrate.

A highlight was working in person with Claudia, our new product developer, designing a new collection, and making a trip back to Peru to work on this collection in person with our artisans. Reconnecting with the land and our makers was truly special and heart-warming.

 

 

 

Thank you to the my incredible team! René, who managed our store full-time while I was in Europe; Lyn, who kept everything running smoothly with her admin work; Maysie, who guided us through rebranding; Claudia, our gifted product developer who co-designed our Winter 2025 collection and Jess, who organised our back-end operations and boosted our social media presence. A special thanks to Claire from The Fashion Advocate for mentoring me out of my rut and helping me find clarity and structure.

I also want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the talented artisans we work with. Their passion, skill, and dedication bring each piece to life, and it is their generational craftsmanship and the way they live their lives that embodies the essence of La Sierra. Their warmth and hospitality were wonderful to experience during my recent trip. They taught me so much about their culture, identity, rituals, traditions, and food, and I feel truly proud that we partner and work along side  such incredible individuals that genuinely align with our values.

And finally, to every single person who visited our store, shopped online, engaged on social media, opened our emails, or recommended us— THANK YOU! Every purchase and interaction matters, and without you, we wouldn’t be here. Every interaction matters, and without you, we wouldn’t exist. Thanks for our regular customers patience with new releases as we’ve navigated this time. We are slow fashion brand and we value intentionally designing pieces and it didn’t feel right to release new products just for the sake of it.

I’ve learned that sometimes moving forward means taking a step back. Resting and doing ‘nothing’ can be some of the most important work we do. When you push past the urge to always be productive and give your mind and body time to recharge, your most creative and clear ideas emerge.

We’re excited to carry this motivated and inspired energy into 2025 to share our new collection, get stocked in stores across Australia, build an aligned community, and keep getting creative with our makers in their workshops in Peru.

Thanks for following along! If you haven’t already, sign up for our newsletter on our website to receive updates.

Happy New Year! May 2025 be the best yet!

With gratitude,
Sophia