Van Ermel Scherer

I've been creating for as long as I can remember, sewing dresses at the dining table as a teenager to wear out that same night. I trained in fashion design and fashion business, then spent over a decade in corporate financial services, but fashion never left me. I founded VES Australia to honour my late grandmother, Valerie aka (Mattie) a Larrakia woman and Stolen Generations survivor who had the most extraordinary eye for fabric and a love of beautiful, flowing kaftans that I carry with me in everything I create. When I watched my mother grieve the loss of our families history and identity, I made a promise to change that, to build something that brought back the joy of who we are and carried our family name, van Ermel Scherer, forward as something to be proud of. Every piece I make is 100% silk crêpe de chine or precision-constructed, double-lined swimwear, each with an original print that will never be repeated. Five percent of every sale goes to the Stolen Generations Council NSW/ACT, because giving back has always been part of why this exists. This is only the beginning.