THE YEAR THAT WAS
Burning Love.
Mother Nature had been burning for months.
Our hearts were so heavy.
Like so many across our scorched sunburnt land the urge to protect her, help her to heal and recover welled up like a collective torrent inside of us.
We all needed some serious magic.
Time to call in the wondrous unicorns.
We auctioned off 30 unicorn pieces, created the SAVE HER charity t-shirt, and donated 10% of profits from our new collection, Then, Now And Ever After, to the victims, wildlife and fire support bodies.
Where there is love, there is life.
Acceptance and love was the mood.
Our own Queen Milla’s heart was bursting with the desire to raise awareness around @ncbf in the hope of spreading hope and light to others, Milla penned a letter to herself detailing her struggle and just how far she had come.
With hearts on fire on the day that is drenched in love, we celebrated Valentine’s Day by honouring and nurturing the self with beautiful affirmation cards inscribed with a loving mantra.
And we found the gold at the end of the rainbow, with a magical Mardi Gras party with a few of our favourites.
The Power of the Tribe.
Like angels swept up in a wave of raw, unstoppable energy we joined the chorus on International Women’s Day singing that Real Queens Share Their Throne.
Our beautiful Tribe joined the choir and we witnessed you sharing the day with women who have helped shape you.
Our beautiful Tribe joined the choir and we witnessed you sharing the day with women who have helped shape you.
As the dark reality of COVID-19 spread more rapidly around the globe, the world as we knew it was gone. The week we'd planned to hold our Warehouse Sale in Paddington Town Hall was the week social distancing restrictions were enforced in Sydney.
At a rushed midnight hour meeting we decided the impossible would not stop us.
The Tribe rallied and purpose built a whole new website, shot over 6,000 individual pieces (covid safely!) through three temporary in-house studios, and extended into a second warehouse space to ensure social distancing for our Pick and Pack Angels – all in ten days!
This spirit of community and collective heart and soul energy set the tone for the months to follow.
The Power of Connection, Fairytales and Technology
Overwhelmed by the restraints of physical distancing, community was more important than ever.
We embraced technology and social media to maintain connection. A new Facebook group was created. 'CAMILLA Tribe - connecting lovers, collectors and boutique angels' quickly blossomed into a supportive space thriving with genuine connection and creativity.
Enter the live Watch Parties and a whole new way to celebrate every new collection drop. Our beautiful styling Angels showcased new prints and silhouettes as they would have in store.
Enter Virtual Reality baby. Our virtual Angel Appointments became the hot, new way to shop. We turned retail therapy on its head with our customers swept up in the joy of one-on-one styling sessions from the comfort of their own home before their treasured new pieces were delivered to their doorstep.
Enter the Fairytale Queens. This dark COVID forest made us rethink the way we did content. For the launch of our magical, fantastical new collection Once Upon A Time campaign shoots were a no go zone and our most fabulous creations Domestic Deborah and Physical Phoebe were born.
With our homes now our true castles, Milla started creating content at home inspiring the Tribe to make the most mundane task a glamorous affair.
This home content gig grew wings with technology enabling live yoga classes on Thursdays, Monday Milla Mantras, Soul Sessions and Style Sessions.
It was all a lesson in staying connected, inspired and uplifted.
It was all a lesson in staying connected, inspired and uplifted.
To top it off, CAMILLA branched into TikTok, and quickly became Australia’s biggest luxury label on the platform.
What a month April Was!
Mama Love.
In a glittering patchwork of love we honoured the heartbeats of our existence. The warrior women who’ve raised, nurtured, guided and protected us.
It was a celebration of all mothers resplendent in one of most popular prints of the year, Mirror Mirror, inspired by the romantic, French chronicles of Cinderella.
Milla reinforced that the Tribe means everything to her, with a big shoutout on Better Homes And Gardens.
Milla reinforced that the Tribe means everything to her, with a big shoutout on Better Homes And Gardens.
CAMILLA Care Packs were donated to frontline breast care nurses, maintaining their essential work during the pandemic, via The McGrath Foundation.
And we finished off the month with a very blessed Eid, celebrating our beautiful Islamic Tribe.
Grief.
Our hearts were heavy with grief and despair as the Black Lives Matter movement swept the globe.
Our hearts were heavy with grief and despair as the Black Lives Matter movement swept the globe.
We stopped. We listened.
We joined the collective prayer for unity, understanding, compassion, justice and love.
We continue to learn.
We found our Zen.
With the world rapidly changing, and everyone spending more time at home in their sanctuaries, we heard your calls for an offering that suited our new way of life.
We turned lounging into an artform bringing back some of our most treasured archived prints reimagined into new active silhouettes.
Celebrating the power, strength and solidarity of Australian designers in these uncertain times, the David Jones Fashion campaign saw Milla and Carla Zampatti share a raw, real and warm moment on set as the Queen of Maximalism met the Queen of Minimalism.
Fittingly, our I AM collection launched, with prints inspired by iconic women who came before us.
A time of new beginnings.
In a renaissance of our most iconic, timeless pieces, our first ever Rebirth Collection repurposed long-loved prints into one-of-a-kind pieces. To launch the collection Camilla called upon her Milla army of four strong and beautiful women who have nourished and nurtured her throughout her journey.
As a brand new store wrapped in lavish ceiling to floor print was born in Bondi Junction, our hearts ached for our Victorian Tribe who faced another round of lockdown.
Splendiferous CAMILLA Zoom backgrounds helped lift the spirits of those who could only connect via video calls.
And new form of Zenwear was born. This wild new Loungewear baby featured collectors’ prints Jaguar and Dancing In The Dark.
Beauty and strength .
Honouring and worshipping the female body in all its forms, we launched our extended sizing collection in a roar of commitment to celebrating all women.
This roar of commitment and support continued with our annual Literacy Is Freedom t-shirt with David Jones raising funds for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF), supporting life-changing literacy programs within Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander communities.
We put the muse into music when Goddess Delta Goodrem went In House With Grazia in I AM collection pieces inspired by Milla's favourite musos.
In a homage to high voltage glamour, escapism and the enigmatic beauties of the silver screen, The Starlet collection was born.
Fur babies and Fundraising.
Our most loyal four-legged friends took the limelight as our design team set hearts alight with the new CAMILLA pet accessories range.
Ringing in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in a cause so close to our hearts, Jessica Rowe and Milla issued a call to arms: Burpees4Boobs – a month-long initiative to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Further cementing the passionate commitment to her heartsong charity, the announcement came that Camilla will grace our screens in 2021 on Celebrity Apprentice dedicating her challenges and raising money for The National Breast Cancer Foundation.
We got groovy OR Groove is in the Heart.
Ringing in the festive season, @nadiafairfax and Milla hosted a groovy, psychedelic sixties- inspired lawn party in our riotous new neon prints.
Spreading love, light and joy in a celebration of all that glitters, gold and glamour, the CAMILLA gift guide was launched along with fierce festive Zoom backgrounds to brighten up holiday calls.
After listening to our Tribe, we also bought back CAMILLA face masks with 10% of profits from each sale donated to frontline health workers.
Heartfelt energy radiated when some of our Angels volunteered at Thread Together, a powerful force of social change, who redistribute clothes headed for landfill, and provide quality new wardrobes to those who need it most.
Take Me To Tinsel Town.
A lush and unbridled celebration of love, light and holiday cheer in the midst of a very strange year.
Designed to rock your jingle bells and pump up the party, an Apple playlist full of festive songs to get you up and dancing was created just for you.
For years Camilla has been much more than a fashion brand. It has become a powerful platform to effect change. For 3 years now we have partnered with The Hunger Project to deliver the Butterfly Project in Bihar India.
The project focuses on empowering young women and has so far stopped 539 child marriages and seen 279 girls return to school. We created beautiful, bespoke lavender-scented bags, with all profits being donated directly to The Butterfly Effect.
The project focuses on empowering young women and has so far stopped 539 child marriages and seen 279 girls return to school. We created beautiful, bespoke lavender-scented bags, with all profits being donated directly to The Butterfly Effect.
Our Villa Angels rallied together and donated 19 CAMILLA bags packed full of hygiene and sanitary items for Share The Dignity Christmas Drive, who provide much-needed essentials to mums and bubs in need.
And a huge shout out, to our much-loved Sydney and International Tribes. Please know that you are in our hearts and thoughts in these uncertain times as lockdowns continue.
2020 has been a whirlwind year of challenges, highs and lows. We’ve all been on this crazy journey together and we sign off sending our beautiful Tribe huge love and a big juicy THANK YOU.
