In celebration of International Women's Day, we chatted with Natalie Dabscheck, creative director and founder of MOS the Label.

A fellow Bondi-brand, MOS offers a relaxed and feminine take of bohemian glamour, creating timeless designs aimed to make women feel their best. During our conversation, Natalie spoke about her career beginnings, the philosophy behind the brand and her advice for balancing it all as a woman in business.

Natalie and the MOS team have kindly created a collection of custom hair scrunchies to gift to our community. Each scrunchie is handmade from leftover fabric from their latest collections - a beautiful token of the brand's commitment to sustainability. Throughout March, every purchase of Bondi Wash over $70 will include one of the scrunchies as a gift. 

We really admire your community-led ethos and MOS the label's natural evolution towards a more sustainable design process. Can you share what inspired you to start MOS?

Becoming the founder and creative director of MOS wasn't so much my choice as my destiny. In the 1980s, my parents created the brand, Dolly Dolly from nothing - so I grew up in the industry I work in today.

Holidays were spent swinging from warehouse racks or watching pattern makers at work. Weekends were spent driving around Sydney while my mother merchandised stores. When she went on buying trips to London, Paris, and New York, I was by her side. After studying fashion at age 22, I launched my first brand 'bebesydney'. As my life changed to include two children, the aesthetic vision of the brand evolved too, first into Ministry of Style then MOS The Label. 

My creativity, passion for design and the environment, combined with becoming a mother, led to the evolution of the brand. Embracing a more relaxed lifestyle and a focus on sustainability, whilst staying true to my personal values, has built MOS into what it is today.

Being a female entrepreneur can have its challenges. Have there been any moments that you've felt held back in your career due to being a woman?

It was a lot more challenging to be taken seriously as a woman when I started my career. Between gender bias and wanting to start a family, it was a lot. I had to learn to juggle a lot of roles after having children.

I found having like-minded, strong women around me helped me face those challenges - it's okay to have those. It's important to find people who can support you, build your confidence and talk openly with. Drive is also important, especially owning a women's brand. I'm quite a determined person by nature, so when I set myself a goal, I will do everything I can to achieve it.  

What skills or personal attributes do you think help women thrive in business?

Drive, perseverance, a strong support network and effective communication skills. Building and nurturing relationships is imperative in business. We want to build a community with our suppliers, so establishing those strong relationships is key. 

Being able to adapt, embrace change and remain resilient are all also strong attributes. As you mature, you bounce back quicker, it doesn't feel like you have as many setbacks as you get older. You're able to learn from mistakes and workshop how to do it better next time. 

Can you share your creative process when it comes to creating a new collection?

I start by gathering inspiration at the beginning of each new season. This comes from a range of sources - a location, nature or new design technique. From here, the design team and I will look at the catwalks and trend reports and break them down into what is on brand for MOS. We then begin to conceptualise the mood, theme and colour palette of the collection and start sourcing different fabrics and trims.

We will sketch preliminary designs and create artwork for the designs before creating samples and fittings, and finally signing it off for production. Overall, the process can take up to twelve months from when a collection is conceptualised through to when the collection is launched.

Community connection is an important part of the MOS brand. How does this manifest in your personal life and how you do business? 

Community connection is a principle that deeply shapes both my personal life and my business. By fostering authentic connections, collaborating, and embracing shared values, I believe we can create stronger, more vibrant communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

Community and friendships are a large part of my personal life and I wanted to be able to bring this into MOS. 

At MOS, we've developed a 'Homegrown Conversations' segment on our journal where we share local business owners in the Sydney area to foster community connection. As a business, we also relish the opportunity to give back through i=Change and actively involve our community in the projects we support. 

We love that the custom scrunchies were a creative way to repurpose excess fabric. Can you share any other planet-conscious choices you make in your life and business -  for your health or for the environment?

I'm always trying to promote a sustainable lifestyle with my family, such as prioritising organic food at home. It's through this way of thinking that I discovered Bondi Wash. When I was a new mum, I wanted to introduce natural products into our home and Bondi Wash were the first products I bought. I love the beautiful brand aesthetic and that they're always very transparent about what is in each product. But also that their products work! Now my whole house is made up of Bondi Wash - even for my puppy Nala.  

Within the business, we're moving towards using more natural fibres. We're also working on our packaging to make it more sustainable. Our design team is always researching sustainable ways to produce fabrics, and this will continue to evolve as our business grows.

What is one piece of advice you would give to young women designers or entrepreneurs?

Confidence is key. Embrace failure as growth and seek out mentorship and support. Stay true to your values and don't forget to celebrate your achievements along the way.