It’s no surprise nostalgia has been a macro trend for several seasons now, and shows no sign of going away. In today’s uncertain global environment, we seek things that feel familiar and comforting. For some brands, the “good old days” have been their inspiration since inception. One that stands out for this specialty is the Australian label Goldie + Ace.

Centered around re-creating the garments she grew up in, the brand’s founder, Alana, has built a reimagined universe based in the 80’s and 90’s. Each season, their website gets a full makeover to immerse us in the collection theme. We spoke with Alana to learn more about her inspirations, the Australian kidswear market, and how the past year as part of the Playtime and OrderWizz community has been for her brand. Grab your punch card and let’s clock into the Goldie + Ace universe!

Alana, Founder of Goldie + Ace

After her first child was born, Alana wanted to create something different. She was constantly disappointed by the poor quality of fabrics that pilled and faded from the endless washing that comes with children. With a background as a textiles buyer, Alana has always had a passion and an eye for quality. So, she set out to bring what she was looking for to the children’s market by starting her own brand.

With this brand, Alana wanted to re-create her favorite childhood outfits. Instinctually tapping into the desire of her fellow parents to find products for their kids that reminded them of their own childhoods, Alana drew her inspiration from the 80’s and 90’s. Leaving scratchy fabrics and questionable color combos in the past, she brings the aesthetics of these decades to the present. Goldie + Ace is all about play, nostalgia, and quality that lasts well beyond one child’s wear.

In addition to her own personal nostalgia for the 80’s and 90’s, Alana loves the playful, yet effortless style of these periods. Clothes were made to be lived in. They could last through scraped knees and hanging upside down on monkey bars, and still be worn to dinner. She brings this easy matching and elevated casual items to the modern market through each Goldie + Ace collection.

Though nostalgia has been having a moment around the world recently, at the brand’s beginning not everyone understood the concept. When the first pair of Goldie + Ace Vintage Washed Denim overalls hit the market in 2018, they sold, but they didn’t sell out. Alana was a bit disappointed because it was a style she really believed in. So, the team re-photographed them for the next campaign and put them in the next collection, and the next one after that. Alana stuck to what she believed in, and leaned harder into the nostalgic storytelling with each new collection. In time, the parents that resonate with Goldie + Ace found it, those who, like Alana herself, are drawn to the styles of the 80’s and 90’s for their own children. Today, Goldie + Ace’s overall styles can completely sell out in just a few days.

In addition to her love of nostalgia, Alana also draws on her Australian surroundings for inspiration. Each Goldie + Ace collection has references to Australia, especially its adorable native animals. It’s very important to her to celebrate the country she calls home. Living in Melbourne with her husband and their three children, Judson, Lottie, and Ollie, Alana is endlessly inspired by the beauty and nature that surround her. Goldie + Ace was born from Alana’s desire to dress her first child in something different than what she was finding in the kid’s market, with the brand’s name coming from her two favorite children’s names (neither of which she could get her husband to agree to!). For Alana, Goldie + Ace is personal. It’s a passion project that is resonating with families around the world.

Being in Australia, the season’s are flipped, so as the Northern Hemisphere heads into winter, they’re heading towards summer. Luckily, nostalgia is universal! For their current collection, “Days of Play”, Goldie + Ace is taking us back to summers spent in our parents’ offices where creativity reigned to making boring surroundings fun. Sticky notes are transformed into dinosaur scales. Cardboard boxes become podiums, and office chairs can spin us into a whole new dimension.

Goldie + Ace also has a limited bedlinen offer at the moment. Made by their team in Portugal, this special collection is nearly sold out! This exploration into the category was in honor of Alana’s past as a bedlinen buyer for Australian departmenet stores. She has a deep appreciation for quality bedlinen, and enjoyed dipping a toe into the category. Though there may be more bedding coming from Goldie + Ace in the future, for the moment they’re sticking with clothing.

Each collection comes with a full immersion across their website and through short films, in addition to their stunning campaign photography. This storytelling is essential to Alana. She finds it creates a real sense of connection around the collection, no matter where her customers are.

Across all of their collections, Goldie + Ace creates pieces that can be passed down or resold. They have several ways of helping their customers maintain the longevity of their products. Goldie + Ace offers free repairs for the lifetime of their garments to customers based in Australia. They also have a RE-WORN resale platform, which is now available globally. On RE-WORN, customers can sell their gently loved Goldie gear and a careful selection of other brand’s products.

From the beginning, Alana has seen it as a responsibility to be sustainable. Every step of the way has been about finding ways to make clothes that don’t end up in landfills. She and her team carefully select durable fabrics that can endure repairs and resale through their platform. Sustainability is a journey they remain committed to, with Goldie + Ace continuing to improve its processes step by step. For example, their packaging is now recyclable, and they use as little as possible.

In addition to repairs and resale, Goldie + Ace also releases ReMix collections using leftover fabrics and trims from past styles. Born of Alana’s distaste for waste, she emphasizes the importance of their team in China sharing this value. They keep all the leftovers in a back room so they’re ready to be given another life through these collections. Customers respond very well to the ReMix products, too. They love knowing that their items are limited edition and made from what would’ve otherwise been wasted.

Alana finds that the Australian kidswear market is a unique mix of laid-back and high standards. Parents want clothing that looks good but that can also withstand a million washes. Since she began Goldie + Ace, Alana has observed a shift towards more considered purchases. She’s noticed that Australian customers are buying less, but better. Like in the rest of the world, customers are more interested in who makes the clothes they dress their children in. Alana likes to believe that the marketing efforts she’s made through Goldie + Ace over the last eight years have helped instill these values!

In speaking about where clothes are made, Goldie + Ace mainly produces in a small town outside of Hefei, China. They’ve found incredible partners there that are specialized in high quality kidswear. Alana met her longtime manufacturing partner, Mr. Zhang, in 2017. He had been managing a large apparel factory, which he left to make the first Goldie + Ace collection with his wife in their apartment. Today, his small factory has a team of more than 30 artisans who handmake every product in Goldie + Ace collections (except swimwear). They are all proud to be part of the Goldie + Ace journey, sharing the brand’s values.

Alana and her team visit them each season. She enjoys spending time in their world and being part of the production and sampling process. For Alana, Goldie + Ace is all about relationships, ethics, and craftsmanship. This partnership plays a huge role in what they’ve been able to do. With her background as a buyer, she’s worked with factories around the world, so she’s able to recognize the special nature of having such a close connection with her production team.

Coming from Australia to international trade shows like Playtime Paris or Playtime New York was a bit strange at first due to the opposite seasons, but now Alana and her team embrace it. She finds it offers an opportunity to tell the collection stories differently, which has been very successful with buyers.

Goldie + Ace started with Playtime last year, finding it was the right community for them to expand their global reach. For their first participation at Playtime Paris, they were in the New Now space, a dedicated section of the show for welcoming first time exhibitors and putting them in the spotlight. Alana said it was very helpful to exhibit for their first time in this space. It offered a great opportunity to connect with people who may not have otherwise seen the brand. It also felt less risky than going all in with a big stand. Alana knew there would be a lot to learn from this first foray into the Playtime universe.

Alana notes that, though they only got one order during this first experience, she left the show with something even more valuable – friends and connections she’ll cherish forever. Goldie + Ace was near the Danish brand, Molo, and Alana found their team to be so kind. To this day, she keeps their Sales Manager, Agathe’s, business card on her desk as a reminder there is space for everyone in the kid’s market. For Alana, true success isn’t about competing with one another, but lifting each other up. Agathe was instrumental in helping secure Goldie + Ace’s first major European customer, and that’s something Alana will never forget.

Having exhibited in Paris and New York, Alana has observed some differences in the way buyers shop at the shows. In Paris, she finds its very story driven, with many visitors asking about who the brand is and what it stands for. She advises participants in Paris to be ready to invest time in relationship building. As for New York, buyers tend to be more direct and business-focused, with the show being very fast paced.

Goldie + Ace has also been on Playtime’s B2B ordering partner platform, OrderWizz, for several seasons. Alana finds the experience to be fantastic, and a great way to connect with buyers between the physical shows. For her and her team, OrderWizz has streamlined their workflow and they appreciate the great customer support team that is always there when they need help. Goldie + Ace currently has several collections available for pre-order on OrderWizz, which you can explore here.

For the rest of 2025, Alana teased that there are some exciting collaborations coming up. One will be unveiled at the winter edition of Playtime Paris January 24-26, so make sure not to miss it!

We know that we can’t wait to discover it for ourselves! Thank you to Alana for sharing these insights into Goldie + Ace’s history, its inspirations, and the Australian market in general. Fellow brands can join Alana and her team at Playtime Paris this January by applying for a booth here, while visitors can get their pass starting mid-November.

All images courtesy of Goldie + Ace