A letter from Jade Sarita Arnott, Arnsdorf Founder and Creative Director.

Our COVID-19 response   A letter from Jade Sarita Arnott, Arnsdorf Founder and Creative Director.    Our hearts are breaking for the impact COVID-19 is having on the world and those that have lost their lives or who have lost loved ones.  We have made the hard but essential decision to close our stores (Brunswick Street, Fitzroy and Emporium, City) as well as our Collingwood based factory as of Monday the 23rd of March until further notice. Our online store will remain open and if you'd like to continue to support us during this difficult time you can do so by purchasing online. Our social media channels will remain active and we would love to continue to connect with you all here. We'll be looking for new ways to connect using technology.  Our mission has always been to keep the people creating our garments safe and we've achieved this by taking control of our supply chain and manufacturing almost all of our products from our factory in Collingwood. However the current situation is increasingly placing our staff across our factory and stores at risk, not to mention our clients.  The health and safety concerns of all our staff and our entire community far outstrips the current need to manufacture fashion and sell face to face. We've always believed in the transformative power of fashion to change women's lives. In all transparency, retail fashion is not worth the risk right now and now is the time to shift our focus.   We are currently in talks with the Australian Government, through our partner Ethical Clothings Australia, to see if we can redirect our manufacturing efforts towards the production of medical clothing and essential items, which we believe are a much worthier risk to take during this time.  As we navigate these unprecedented times together we enter a new way of being. We need to adapt and walk lightly through this but also be as real and raw as we are. Some moments will call for tears others will make us smile and laugh at the funny memes going around the internet. There will be loss. Life can be messy but to live fully as difficult as it is, requires us to feel all of it at some times. At Arnsdorf we make clothing but we also share an intimacy with our clients and community. We know that you all care deeply about the world and people's wellbeing as we do and we believe that once we pass through this time we will come out the other side and be changed. The world will be changed and it may be a better one for at least the sake of our climate. It's moments of crisis like this that brings out our true humanity as we care for each other and put the health and wellbeing of the world’s people above all else. Financially things are going to be strained for most of us. As social distancing and our usual freedoms of daily life change for now we will go through a period of introspection which presents its own opportunities for personal and collective growth. We will continue to think deeply about how we at Arnsdorf can have a positive impact on the world and in people’s lives. The world is pausing for this moment in time, things are slowing down to simpler ways of being.  We thank you for being here with us in our community and sharing this journey with us through these rough seas, we know the horizon will appear and a new day and dawn will come.   Look after yourselves and each other, Jade Sarita Arnott