Designer Ena Pelly on why collaboration is the fashion industry’s “secret sauce”

Collaboration has long been at the heart of the fashion industry – with creative forces frequently teaming up to design something new and generate further brand heat.

Australian label Ena Pelly is not shy of a shared garment label and has been regularly teaming up with industry tastemakers and fashion influencers to bring consumers collections with a fresh take. 

After a sold-out collection in 2021, Ena Pelly collaborated with digital influencer and entrepreneur Elle Fergusson once again to bring to life “EP X EF 2.0”. 

“The ‘secret sauce’ to remaining authentic in the industry is collaborations,” Danielle Pelly, Ena Pelly co-founder and director, told Inside Retail. 

Empowering partnerships

Danielle Pelly knows that relevancy in the fashion industry is a fleeting and moving target so she remains agile and open-minded when designing a new collection.

“We approach every collection with the objective of finding the balance between aligning to our core brand design principles and responding to market demand and trend considerations,” explained Pelly.

“At a high level, every collection needs to feel like it fits naturally into the brand offering and delivers continuity in that respect to ensure the product we design is authentic and resonates with our consumer,” she added.

Collaborations allow fashion brands to offer a limited-edition and exclusive product offering to their dedicated consumers – with the opportunity to attract some new ones.

“It keeps us relevant and able to continuously offer our customers something new and keep them coming back time and time again,” said Pelly.

The design process for an Ena Pelly collaboration doesn’t differ too much from its main collections, however, input from the talent right from the beginning is crucial.

Authentic collaboration 

“Before we even begin the design process, we consider who we want to work with and who feels like the right fit for Ena Pelly – I lean into my gut instinct here,” explained Pelly.

This sentiment was echoed by collaborator Elle Fergurson when she told Inside Retail, “There are so many brands engaging in talent and influencer partnerships these days, so I think it is really important not to get lost in that and stick with those collaborations that truly align.” 

Pelly and Ferguson share a design principle of designing for themselves and therefore create garments that resonate with their respective audiences and follow their unique style. 

This shared fashion lens is what makes the design process run smoothly and ensures that the final collection feels authentic to both collaborators.

“Elle has a great eye for trend too, and she’s leaned into our product strength – graphics,” stated Pelly.

“It’s meant the collections both times have really resonated with both our audiences, and therefore ultimately sold well.”

The first collection that Ena Pelly and Elle Furgerson collaborated on was a success with popular designs selling out within days of launching, so naturally, the design duo wanted to collaborate again on EP X EF 2.0. 

“Within this collection, you will find we have re-worked popular aspects from the first collection but with a refreshed feel,” said Fergurson.

“The customer fell in love with the shapes we created in the first collab so we made sure to keep these and update with new graphics and washes,” she added.

The success of this collaboration came down to taking three style perspectives into account; Pelly as the designer, Fergurson as the talent and their combined followings. 

“It comes down to knowing your audience, and Elle and Ena Pelly have similar audiences,” Pelly concluded.

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