BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Formal black skirt. Don’t wear leggings. Don’t wear black jeans. No midriff tops. Don’t wear a t-shirt.
Sound frustrating?
Welcome to the world of concert blacks.
Anyone who performs on stage – or knows someone who does – will understand the anxiety-inducing experience of finding just the right set of concert blacks.
It’s not enough to face the regular challenge of choosing fashion that fits; you have to choose black fashion that aligns with strict (or implied) rules for your concert. (And don’t even think about wearing the same clothes for two concerts in a row – or even a concert next year, if you’re still young and growing taller.)
Jacinda Jaensch, whose 12-year-old daughter Lianah has played cello in a number of Sydney youth orchestras, made a decision that resonates with us all: enough is enough.
“My daughter has to sit for hours with a cello in between her legs. She needs pants with a lot of stretch and a waist band that doesn’t dig in,” Jacinda says.
“I’ve wasted a lot of time at the shops to discover that black items often don’t meet the brief required for an orchestra. And, most importantly, a lot of the clothes aren’t that comfortable to play music in.
“I was forever coming home empty handed after trawling the shops for hours, and I was sick of it.”
So, Jacinda took action – and started to design her own.
Cadenza Apparel is a new Australian fashion line for classical musicians. And it’s the brainchild of this musical mum.
“The idea for Cadenza Apparel came about from my own frustration,” Jacinda says.
“There is a huge gap in the market for black clothes that look age-appropriate, and are stage-performance appropriate.
“There is no one specifically tailoring clothes for musicians, especially youth musicians. Australia needs this product because there is nothing else like it.”
It took a while to get off the ground – Jacinda’s daughter was eight years old when the idea first came about. But Jacinda’s vision (and fashion frustration) persisted.
“Seeing as though I couldn’t find anything, ever, I decided that I had to design and make it myself.”
Jacinda has a simple ethos: Form. Fit. Function. With the help of a colleague, she started designing her apparel. Thanks to her daughter’s needs, Jacinda was armed with plenty of knowledge: that a cellist requires the ability to move her arms freely; that sleeves can’t have frills getting in the way; that buttons can crunch against the instrument.
“My clothes need to look amazing and fit well, but be functional in their design so they are comfortable, too.”
Cadenza Apparel had its soft launch at the end of 2017, with a ‘casual range’ for which musicians can purchase comfortable (and a little cheeky) clothes for rehearsals or weekend wear.
“A highlight for the casual range was when [internationally acclaimed cellists] Santiago Canon-Valencia and Pablo Ferrandez both wore my #celloboss shirts and posted on their Instagram!”
“The bespoke line is my true focus, though, and something that I hope to keep evolving and adding to as popularity grows,” Jacinda says.
“I wanted to make clothes that musicians of all ages would want to wear, and that are really easy to buy – because everything is online. And they’re even nice enough that you could wear them anywhere, and you don’t even have to be a musician.”
The clothes are designed with a uniformity, but provide enough variety for instrumentalists to choose the right fit for their body shape, and for the requirements of their orchestra or instruments.
“I want my customers to feel like they have options they can mix and match, but all the clothes are made with the same shade of black so all tops and all bottoms match perfectly with the ‘shade of black’.”
Though they’re a great match for Lianah, Jacinda says she’s aiming her products not only at musicians, but at fellow parents who “don’t want to spend hours at the shops with their musician child and two siblings in tow”. (“That’s a nightmare!”)
Jacinda has experience with running her own business, but the entrepreneur has still found Cadenza Apparel a steep learning curve.
“There have many tears and lots of angst, but lots of small wins and celebrations along the way!” she says.
“I learnt that when you deal with the manufacturers, you have to be very specific about every detail. And finding the right manufacturer is key in terms of the quality of product you will get.”
Jacinda embarked on a lengthy journey of detailed sketches, descriptions, and product samples.
“The tulip skirt was a real nightmare to perfect because I chose the wrong fabric for how I wanted the skirt to look/drape/fall,” she explains.
“Because the fabric was so light, we had to re-design the skirt. I am very happy with how the re-designed skirt now looks, though – and so is my daughter!”
Lianah’s opinion, of course, is the ultimate test for Cadenza.
“Lianah is constantly asking me if she can wear the clothes to school!” Jacinda says.
“She really likes the pants, skirt, and long sleeve blouse. She is always commenting that they are really comfortable. She also happens to be my model on my website!”
Jacinda’s vision begins with other young musicians embracing her concert blacks early in their careers (because, well, who wants to worry about what to wear when they should be practising?).
“My dream is to dress not only the youth orchestras around Australia, but some of the big professional orchestras as well: Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra come to mind, to name a few!
“I can dream, right?!”
And it all started with Lianah.
We teamed up with Cadenza Apparel to bring you Jacinda’s story! Orders have now opened for these Australian designed concert blacks – check ’em out!
Images supplied.
