LEXI LANDSMAN

MAHALIA is Hebrew for tenderness, and it’s also the name of a fashion label that has just been launched by two young, innovative Jewish designers Dionne Efron and Amira Jacobson.

With the slogan “wear a little tenderness”, Jacobson says the name is a reflection of the items in their range.

“We like to call the style of Mahalia bohemian-chic,” Jacobson, 22, says. “It’s all very soft fabrics and loose fitted and very wearable for a lot of sizes. At the same time, it’s chic, so it can be worn at night.”

The label’s nature-inspired first range features dress and vest designs in summery colours and prints. Produced entirely in Australia with quality locally-sourced fabrics, it incorporates prints of birds, flowers and embroidered feathers.

“It’s a good combination of the two of us,” Jacobson says, explaining that she is the Bohemian side of Mahalia and Efron is the chic, structured side.

“Dionne and I are very similar but very different at the same time. So we balance the label out really well.”

Efron is amid studies of fashion and textiles merchandising at RMIT University, while Jacobson has been working with her mother in fashion and recently deferred a semester from an arts degree at Monash University to concentrate on Mahalia.

The pair met in 2000, after Jacobson, then 13, moved from her birthplace in Auckland, New Zealand to Australia. On her first day of school at Mount Scopus College, she met Efron, and the two have remained close friends since.

While Efron grew up in an artistic environment, Jacobson grew up in the rag trade. Her father was the managing director and her mother the head fashion designer of Hilltop Group, which manufactured labels such as Max Fashions, Zambesi, Thornton Hall and several other well-known New Zealand brands.

Jacobson has vivid memories of following her mother around the factory.

“There was this huge factory and all the finished garments were in rows and rows. I wanted to spend all my time there. I used to watch Mum sketch and pin things on people and I was fascinated by it from a young age,” she recalls.

Despite having been fostered with an appreciation of fashion and craftsmanship, her parents discouraged her from getting into the rag trade. “They’d tell me what a cut-throat industry it is, but as much as they tried and tried, I still ended up in it.”

It was only this year, after spending time travelling and “finding herself”, that Jacobson realised her calling had always been fashion. She spoke to Efron and the pair decided to put their creative hats on.

It has been a quick turnaround. Mahalia has been launched in the space of seven months, since the inception of their idea in January.

Jacobson believes Mahalia is filling a gap in the market by offering items women can wear day to night.

The clothes will be stocked in a number of Melbourne’s top boutique stores, and their next range will be stocked in stores across Sydney.

“We’ve been very fortunate to have gotten Mahalia to where it is. We’ve pushed barriers and boundaries. It’s a long haul, so we’re taking it as it comes. It’s very exciting.”

Enquiries: www.mahalia.com.au