In 2023, back when On A Good Day was just the tiniest kernel of an idea, we made a trip to Tamil Nadu, in southern India, to learn about textile manufacturing and see with our own eyes how things are done.
Our desire to produce our collections in India was a natural one, for a few reasons:
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I have family there, so we have an emotional bond to the place.
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Practically, because of point 1, India will always be a place we travel to on a fairly consistent basis.
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And of course, a major reason is that India has a thriving textile industry, particularly in the production of cotton. Did you know that India’s cotton industry dates back thousands of years?
On that first trip, we headed to Tirrupur and Erode, via Coimbature, where we visited the facilities of organic cotton textile manufacturers and ethical garment makers. We asked so many questions and gleaned an awful lot in a short space of time. There’s something special about being in a place for yourself, meeting people face to face. For our first collection, we ended up working with a textile manufacturer we met in our travels.
Back in Sydney, with all we had learned on our visit, we slowly turned this tiny seed of a thought - a clothing label of classic pieces, ethically produced, designed and made entirely and wholeheartedly for women up to 160cm / 5’3” - into a reality.
It took years of learning and tinkering in the background to reach a point where we had our suppliers lined up, our fabrics organised, and our designs ready to produce (after several iterations and rounds of sampling). Not to mention all the other elements involved in setting up an ecommerce business!
In February 2025, on another trip to India to see family, we travelled again to meet with suppliers, in Tamil Nadu and Jaipur. As wonderful as technology is, to be able to meet over video calls across the world, there’s no substitute for being in the same room and getting to know people and the operations. Seeing our clothing pieces being crafted, meeting the skilled people working on our designs.
I’m in a privileged position to be able to meet our suppliers in person, to get to know the people involved and understand their businesses up close. I’ve made quite a few missteps and learned a lot along the way.
We’ve met with people as far down the supply chain as possible - fabric manufacturers, dyers and makers of the product. To us, it’s imperative to ensure we see first hand the craftsmanship and supply chain standards. The unseen parts of producing clothes are often more important as the ‘seen’ bits.
We are a small brand producing limited runs of our products, but even so, we want to tread as lightly as we can in the way we work with our suppliers, make and sell our pieces. We place a high value on premium fabrics produced without harmful pesticides or chemicals.
Throughout the process from idea to reality, at many times I’ve been impatient for things to move along more quickly, to launch the business sooner. Sometimes, you’ve just got to trust the process, right?
In July 2025, after years of working away behind the scenes, finally we were ready to launch On A Good Day with our first collection of pieces for short women. Small beginnings, but not without a good dash of adventure on the journey to day one.
In my small samplings of India, I’ve experienced sensory overload, tasted the most delicious food, met some of the kindest people. I’ve had my sense of the world expanded with every visit, and my place in it put into perspective (i.e. the world is abundant, and I’m just happy to be here).
But there is one place I will always return to, where we find our home away from home, where family belongs, and that is Goa. A land of family, colour, lush landscapes, a warm ocean, and susegad (look it up).
Here's to adventure,
Gill