Back in high school, I had no clue what I wanted to do. When I was 20, I jumped into a fashion technology course at TAFE, completely out of my depth. I was one of the only guys there - surrounded by girls - and had zero experience or idea what I was doing.

The first shirt I ever sewed at TAFE, my teacher came over to check it out, thinking I was onto something good. Turns out, I had somehow sewn a sleeve to the neck. She just looked at it and said, “This is what you don’t do.”

After finishing TAFE, I struggled to find work, as no one would hire me. So I decided to start making my own garments.

With only $100, I started the Jimmy Stuart label at 22, making shirts at home on a ping pong table.

I was selling the shirts at markets, which barely even covered the cost of the stand.

I didn’t have a lot of experience or connections in the industry so I had to make a lot of mistakes and just learn along the way.

I started attending trade fairs in Melbourne with samples. This allowed me test the market and see what people were interested in.

I got my first break at a shop in Carlingford where they wanted to start selling my pirate style shirt.

I met the store owner, and he loved my designs.

He wanted to buy everything I had and asked when I’d be making more. Then, he started helping me get my products into other stores too.

In 1995, a Queensland agent approached me, offering to represent the brand. That ended up leading to connections with some really important people who helped me a lot along the way.

In 1996, my first daughter was born, and reality smacked me - I had to get serious because I had a family to support. Then my second daughter came along, and that’s when it really hit me… kids are basically tiny, adorable money vacuums!

2013 was a game-changing year for the business. It was the year we launched the first e-commerce site for the Jimmy Stuart brand. Before that, we were mostly focused on wholesale.

In 2020, we opened our first retail store in Avalon Beach, Sydney. We made the move because our collection had grown so much, and it just felt like the right time to have a brick-and-mortar store.

In 2023, we opened our flagship store in Mosman, right in the heart of one of Sydney's

most prestigious shopping strips.

We put a lot of effort into creating something different for the area - offering a bright, vibrant space with something fresh and new.

Fast forward to today, and 90% of our collection is still made in Australia. We've expanded so much from our original shirt collection to now include jackets, shorts, jeanos, beachwear, knitwear, and more.