One front-line soldier described how he went from army sniper to weapons designer after getting into the job of “putting clothes in bags” as a teenager.
Martin Sanders, who has three children and lives in Sydney with his girlfriend, is the head designer of the glamorous nightwear brand Zaliea and debuted with his own label at this year’s Australian Fashion Week.
Her dresses were worn by Robyn Lawley, a plus-size superstar who became a superstar after appearing on the covers of Vogue Italia in 2011.
The model was Vogue Australia’s first plus-size woman and is one of the most recognizable faces pushing inclusivity in high-end fashion.
Martin Sanders, a veteran who discovered a career in fashion after the front line – dressed Robyn Lawley for fashion week this year
Martin never dreamed of a career in fashion: he always wanted to be a soldier and joined the army at the age of 18.
Robyn wore this beaded dress, one of Martin’s “passion pieces” added to the collection by popular demand, to the show finale.
Speaking to FEMAIL, Martin, who describes himself as a “gross sports fan,” said he was happy to dress Robyn for the “Curve Edit” show and even more excited that she chose her favorite beaded dress to wear for the finals.
“Hard to believe my boss is dressing Robyn Lawley,” he muttered.
“She loved it so much, which keeps me going. I like that women feel good. I love being able to do this for them.
When the 61-year-old got a job in the assembly department of a local fashion house, she didn’t realize she was going to settle in the fashion industry all her life.
She was soon targeted by executives of bridal company Mr. K, who “thought they could cut it” before deciding she was better suited for apprentice-style jobs.
“There I learned to cut different fabrics, the tank and the collar,” he said.
But the idea of fashion as a career still didn’t cross her mind, and in 1978, at the age of 18, she joined the army.
She now owns four inclusive fashion brands in sizes 6 to 24, along with Chelsea Bonner, the model manager behind the new Curve Edit during Fashion Week.
Martin only spent four years in the army – time spent away from home was his downfall
“After training, I was sent as part of a unit to defend the Royal Australian Air Force fighter base in Butterworth, Malaysia, not far from the Thai border, for four months. Our mission was to protect the RAAF from potential Communist rebels,” he said.
“I was a frontline infantryman trained to shoot to kill when needed. It was pretty tough when I was there, we had to hold our heads up all the time.
“Once, while I was patrolling the airbase, a soldier on the other side of the base was stabbed in the face by two insurgents who climbed the barbed wire and entered our area. Luckily he pushed them back and was lucky not to be killed.
Martin soon discovered that he was “good with the soldiers.”
He won awards as the best soldier of his platoon and thrived in a well-organized and harsh military environment.
Now she spends her days designing evening dresses for women and she loves it.
Here she is pictured with one of her models in a beaded dress – Martin loves to use rich colors and beaded embellishments on her dresses.
Martin said that he designed the dresses in hopes that the women who wore the dresses would feel powerful and confident, and he was delighted that Robyn loved the dress.
But four years later she decided she wanted a family, and being on the road all the time, often away from home for months, wasn’t going to help her find a stable relationship.
“I struggled when I first broke up and wondered if I was doing the right thing,” she said.
He knew Mr. K’s team and went to see if there was a job for him.
They hired him right away and paid him to “put the clothes in the bags” before they realized he had managerial skills.
Before the backstage show, Martin was overjoyed when Robyn walked past him on his fashion week debut.
He filled the void left by the military with sports: he became a black belt and was heavily involved in football.
His organizational and leadership skills have helped him climb the ladder to become one of the top executives in the demanding fashion industry.
She gradually fell in love with the industry after learning about the history of some of the world’s best fashion houses and how to reinvent them to stay current.
It was here that he met Chelsea Bonner, who convinced Australian Fashion Week to consider a plus-size runway at the 2022 fashion show.
In 2016, Martin decided to put his creative energy and decades of industry experience on their labels.
He calls himself an ordinary designer and invents 400 new clothes every year.
But it’s not all glamor – Martin snapped this photo of her a few days before her first show at Fashion Week, proving that she’s still doing the hard work.
Zaliea was born to sister companies Jesse Harper, Layla Jones and Joshua James.
“Even though I was in the military a long time ago, the lessons I learned there still help me in my job every day,” he said.
“It’s easy to procrastinate when you’re tired, but in the military you learn to do it, so I’ll do it. And perseverance means I am more productive and have built a very successful business”.
Each of the Martin brands caters to women of all shapes, sizes and ages, from a size 6 to a size 24, and that is something Martin is passionate about.
“Women want bigger evening dresses, who am I to not listen,” she said.
“The most popular size should be 14 or 16 now, it went from 12 to 14 a few years ago,” he said.
“I listen to the women in my life, I am surrounded by them, and I incorporate their feedback into my projects,” she said.
All of Martin’s dresses are made in Australia, which is something he is proud of.
“My brands do not discriminate and I am proud of that.”
Martin has designed 14,000 dresses in six years, some of which take just five minutes to conceive.
“I have a rule that if I have to think about it, it probably won’t work and I just canceled it,” he said.
Martin can’t draw, so he sits down with his pattern maker and explains what he wants in productive brainstorming sessions.
“Sometimes I wake up with an idea, or when I’m traveling I have an idea, so I just add it to my notes,” she said.
Robyn chose to wear two of Martin’s favourites, as she took the runway Thursday night.
The designer says he likes to make women feel great
Robyn chose to wear this velvet number on the show, bottle green velvet is one of Martin’s favorite materials right now.
“I’m in love with the velvet and the green bottle right now and it’s a dress with a lot of classic details that really suits her,” she said.
The other, a beaded dress, was a love project.
“Sometimes I design something just because I like the idea. It was never for production but people liked it so much that it’s in this season’s collection,” he said.
“But it started as a passion project.”
Martin is sometimes shocked by his career in women’s fashion, noting that it doesn’t go hand in hand with his rough start as a soldier, sports freak, or father of three.
‘I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would have anything to do with women’s fashion. But I absolutely love what I do and I wouldn’t trade it for gold,” he said.
Source: Daily Mail
