Cut!

"Our store is closed until September 26th 2019. Theo is a very small business, and I have called a big time out to pause, reflect and move forward with intent.

To join a community of like-minded slow fashionistas, click through here and stay in the know. Follow our holiday adventure here on Instagram too, for live updates! For a long-winded version, keep reading below. Thank you for understanding."

It's official, I'm on holiday mode. If you're a keen follower of all things Theo you will have picked up on an eerie silence coming from our corner of the web - I've been MIA for around 4 months now! A few things have contributed to the lack of communication from me and there are more than a few 'feels' involved too.

The pressure.

I'm not sure why I do it but I have an unhealthy tendency to put pressure on myself to achieve this or that, and I rarely celebrate a win. It's always onto bigger and better things! and this time I just couldn't handle it mentally. I stopped emailing you with updates and I stopped oversharing on Instagram stories. I stopped everything and dug myself a little hole filled with self doubt and imposter syndrome. I dragged myself to the commitments I had already made and was very encouraged to see many of you in Adelaide, Brisbane and the Melbourne markets - thank you! Your friendly faces meant so much more to me than you would have known. I guess the thing about stopping though is that it makes it SO much harder to start again, so 4 months later I've still not mustered up the courage to show my face online!

Walking the talk.

I rave about slowing down and consuming consciously so when it came time to produce the next summer collection I just couldn't do it. I went to all my usual fabric suppliers in April, determine to source the best available eco-friendly fabrics and deadstock textiles in Bali as I usually would. This time however, it all felt same-same and I was hugely uninspired. Creating from a space where I was mentally exhausted and insecure was not possible, and as the weeks went by and deadlines for production drew closer and closer, I still didn't have any idea how I was going to pump out a fresh collection.

Part of me thought just suck it up, design something, anything, and get it out there but I didn't like how 'fast fashion' that sounded even in my mind.

How wasteful to use up resources and put makers to work, only to produce and market a collection that was half-hearted and largely the result of a fashion business cycle that demands fresh, new and NOW. How could I repeatedly telI my audience to stop buying into the vicious cycles of fashion and consumerism when I was basically living out a business version that had the same result?! I found myself in unhealthy cycles of eco-anxiety (it's a real thing!) and burn out, mixed with some premature mid-life crises, and I still haven't decided how to move forward. Honestly I'm not sure if you'll see a summer collection from me this year!

Please don't get me wrong, I appreciate your support so much, and I do feel like I'm letting you down by not having a new range for you in the foreseeable future. I wanted to write this for you to be transparent because if there's anything I can do at this point, it's that. I just need a breather, a little time-out, and already, relieving myself from the immediate pressure of a new collection is giving me space to dream again. What could Theo look like without a hard and fast summer/winter cycle? What can I produce that could better align with my sustainable ideals long-term?

So where to from here?

Well, come Sunday I'll be flying over to London to kick off 5 weeks of European adventures, just Tim, myself and a couple of 20L backpacks to celebrate a little milestone of turning 30. Future me must have known I needed this trip back when I booked it in January because the timing is wonderful. We're challenging ourselves to a very light travel capsule wardrobe (carry-on only!) so feel free to follow our journey @honesthimandher on Instagram to see how we go.

Theo orders are fulfilled solely by me in my little spare room, so I've decided to close the online store for the whole time I'm away, which is why you won't see any products available online. E-commerce suicide? Likely. I still don't know if I'm going to regret all of the above (not the travel, no one regrets travel!) but thank you for bearing with me. I appreciate your understanding and patience, and I don't take your support for granted one bit - it is in fact what excites me about the future of sustainable fashion.

Thank you, until next time,