Fashion was never Ashleigh’s planned career, but life led her there in its own way. From becoming a young mum to building SUMMI SUMMI, her journey has been shaped by instinct, creativity and a willingness to take risks. In this conversation, she shares the experiences, challenges and ideas behind the brand she continues to grow.
Before we talk about the brand, we’d love to get to know you. Could you tell us a little about yourself and what life is like for you outside work?
I’m Ashleigh, founder of Summi Summi, and I live in Yamba on the NSW coast with my two daughters. Outside of work, life is pretty simple – I love being near the ocean, spending time with my girls and friends, travelling when I can, and finding any excuse for a good meal and a glass of wine.
I think living regionally has shaped me a lot, both personally and creatively. I’m quite instinctive and probably a little impulsive, and I like life to feel fun rather than too structured. Running a fashion brand can be incredibly consuming, so outside of work I really value the ordinary things being at home, being a mum, going to Pilates, walking, cooking, and switching my brain off when I can.
You’ve had quite an interesting journey into fashion. What were some of the experiences that shaped the way you are today?
I definitely didn’t take a traditional path into fashion. Before Summi Summi, I’d been a flight attendant, a bank teller, and a florist, and then I became a mum quite young. I think all of those completely different chapters shaped the way I approach business now.
I didn’t have formal fashion training or a big industry network, so I had to learn by doing and make plenty of mistakes along the way. It probably made me trust my instincts more and not get too caught up in how things are “supposed” to be done.
Becoming a mum was also a huge turning point. It was actually what led me to start my first kidswear label with $2,000 I borrowed from my parents, which eventually evolved into Summi Summi. Looking back, I think not knowing too much was almost an advantage. I wasn’t afraid to give things a go, change direction when something wasn’t working, and build the brand in a way that felt natural to me.
What was going on in your life when you first started making clothes, and what made you think, “I could actually do something with this”?
I was a young mum with two little girls, living regionally and wanting beautiful clothes for them that felt a bit different, but that I could actually afford. That was really the seed of it. I borrowed $2,000 from my parents and started a little kidswear label called Tippi and Zep. There was no grand business plan, I was just making something I wanted to exist.
The real turning point came when women started asking if I could make the pieces in their size. That was probably the first moment I thought, maybe there’s something bigger here. I started experimenting with womenswear, and the response gave me the confidence to keep going.
Eventually that little kidswear label evolved into Summi Summi. It wasn’t one big lightbulb moment; it was more like following a trail of breadcrumbs. One thing worked, then another, and I kept listening to what people were responding to while trusting my own instinct about where it could go.
When your first adult collection sold out, what was going through your mind at that point?
Honestly, I think I was mostly shocked. I definitely didn’t have this huge sense of “I’ve made it” if anything, it was more like, okay… maybe people actually want this.
Until then I’d really been following my gut and figuring things out as I went, so selling out that first adult collection felt like the first real validation that there could be something bigger in it. It gave me the confidence to keep pushing the brand forward, but it also made me hungry to see what else I could do.
You taught yourself everything along the way. What has that experience taught you about trusting your own ideas and figuring things out as you go?
It’s taught me that you have to back yourself, but also be okay with getting it wrong. I’ve built the business largely on instinct, and while that instinct has led to some of our best decisions, it’s definitely led to some questionable ones too.
I think when you’re self-taught, you become really comfortable with figuring things out as you go. You don’t wait until you know everything before you start, because you never will. You make the decision, see what happens, learn from it, and adjust.
Over time, I’ve become much more confident in my own ideas and less concerned with what everyone else is doing. I think some of the best things we’ve done with Summi have come from not overthinking it and just asking, “Do we love this?” If we do, that’s usually enough reason to give it a go.
With SUMMI SUMMI, you want women to feel comfortable being themselves. What do you hope they feel when they put on your clothes?
I want them to feel like themselves, just maybe a little more confident. I’ve never wanted Summi Summi to be about dressing like a certain type of woman or following a particular trend. It’s about putting something on and feeling really good in it without having to think too hard about it.
Our clothes are expressive there’s colour, print and personality but there’s also an ease to them. I love the idea that what you wear can shift your mood or give you that little bit of confidence you needed that day.
More than anything, I want women to wear Summi in their own way. The clothes should never wear the person.
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Running a fashion business comes with plenty of challenges. What’s something about being a founder that has pushed you the most?
Probably learning to carry the responsibility of it all. As the founder, there are so many decisions that ultimately land with you creative decisions, financial decisions, people decisions and you’re making a lot of them without ever really knowing for certain if they’re the right ones.
I’ve had to become comfortable with uncertainty and learn not to let a bad decision completely knock my confidence. There have definitely been moments where I’ve thought, what am I doing? But I’ve learnt that being a good founder isn’t about always getting it right, it’s about being able to adapt when you don’t.
I think that’s probably what has pushed me the most, but it’s also where I’ve grown the most.
How has being a mum changed the way you approach your work, your time, and the decisions you make?
Being a mum has probably made me much more decisive. My time has always been divided between the business and my girls, so I learnt pretty early that I couldn’t spend forever overthinking every decision. Sometimes you just have to trust yourself, make the call and move on.
It’s also given me a lot of perspective. The business is a huge part of my life and I care deeply about it, but it isn’t my whole identity. My girls bring me back to real life very quickly, which I think is actually really healthy when you work in an industry that can sometimes take itself a little too seriously.
Ultimately, they’re a huge part of why I started in the first place, and I love that they’ve grown up alongside Summi Summi. They’ve seen the good parts, the stressful parts and everything in between and hopefully they’ve seen that you can create something for yourself without having to follow a conventional path.
Sustainability in fashion isn’t always simple. What are you trying to do differently with SUMMI SUMMI, and what have you learned along the way?
Sustainability in fashion is complicated, and I’d never want to pretend we have it completely figured out. For us, it’s about being conscious of what we produce and making better decisions wherever we realistically can.
We produce in considered quantities rather than en masse, and we want our pieces to feel special enough that people keep them, re-wear them and genuinely love having them in their wardrobe. Our prints are created specifically for each collection and aren’t endlessly repeated, so there’s an intention behind what we put into the world.
We’ve also worked with the same family-owned factory for around ten years, and having that long-term relationship has given us a much better understanding of how our clothes are actually made.
You’ve built a real connection with your audience online. What do you think makes people feel connected to a brand?
I think people connect with brands when they can feel that there are real people behind them. Everything is so polished now that sometimes the imperfect or slightly unfiltered moments are actually what people respond to most.
We’ve always tried to speak to our community like people, not customers. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, we listen to what they’re telling us, and we let the personality of the brand come through rather than trying to make everything feel perfectly curated.
I also think people want to feel part of something, not constantly sold to. Some of our customers have been with us since the very beginning, and that relationship means a lot to me. They’ve watched Summi evolve, and in a way they’ve helped shape what it has become.
You can’t really manufacture genuine connection. People can tell when a brand is trying too hard to be something it isn’t.
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing that helps you switch off or get your creativity back?
Honestly, I’m happiest when life is pretty simple. Being at home in Yamba, spending time with my girls, going for a walk, Pilates, being near the ocean, having a wine with friends anything that gets me out of work mode for a minute.
I also love interiors, travelling and finding beautiful places to eat or stay. I think a lot of my creativity comes back when I’m not actively looking for it. I’ll see a colour combination, an old building, something someone’s wearing or even just a weird little detail somewhere, and suddenly I’m thinking about a print or a collection again.
Looking at what’s ahead, is there anything you’re really excited to explore or build next?
There’s actually a lot I’m excited about at the moment. We have our Paddington pop-up coming up in November, which will be really fun and a chance to bring the brand to life in Sydney. We’re also expanding further into the UK and Europe, which feels like a pretty big moment for us.
Creatively, I’m probably most excited about where the brand is heading next. I feel like we’ve really found our confidence and there’s a clear direction for what SUMMI SUMMI is becoming. It feels a little more elevated and grown-up, but still has all the personality and playfulness that’s always been at the heart of the brand.
