By the time Samantha Hardman was in her mid-twenties, she’d married the man of her dreams, landed a job in senior management at a major bank and was wondering what to do next. Her childhood dream to become a fashion designer nagged at her and so, not a year after her wedding, she quit her job to start Bento, a luxe cult fashion label jam-packed with striking classic pieces in irresistibly stroke-able textiles.

Hardman started the Bento blog the day she resigned from the bank and it’s an honest account of her Bento journey, now well into the third collection. Bento clothing is all made within 15kms of the brand’s inner Melbourne base, no small feat when many labels are producing off-shore. Hardman goes out of her way to source fabrics that will stand the test of time. The focus on local production and quality textiles puts the pieces at an appropriate price point, but not all consumers understand the costs involved. “One of my stockists posted a dress from our first season on Facebook that was $600 or so and someone commented, 'Great dress, but probably only cost $20 or so to make,'” shares Hardman. “I remember being really cut up because I thought, ‘You have no idea. I didn’t make any money on it. You’re crazy if you think that’s what it cost.’”

In response, and in an effort to educate consumers on the costs of producing locally, and on the scale that a small label initially does, Hardman posted a blog revealing all of the costs involved in making the T-shirt in the Spring Summer range. It’s one of many revealing blogs in the collection covering finding producers, finding retailers, being rejected, or being accepted and not being paid. There are also influences and a beautiful video in which you just might spot quite a few other Melbourne bloggers.

There are plenty of positive stories too. Whilst Hardman’s Dad was visiting from interstate, he accompanied her on her working day. “My manufacturer for my cut and sew stuff, both our Dads were engineers. They bonded, he speaks mostly Greek and not much English, but they both established that their secret to old age was not to drink any soft drink and lots of red wine.” Hardman’s quite fond of a tipple herself, revealing she could happily sustain herself on cocktails, “I’m going to be the crazy old lady with the massive hair and the skinny leather pants who tops up her lip gloss between courses and walks around with a martini glass,” she foresees.

As for who Bento is for, Hardman hasn’t got an age demographic in mind. “It’s about knowing what suits you and being prepared to invest in a piece that’s really good quality, that has really good fabrics and that is made really well. If you want to dress really fashionably you can work it with other things, but that will be that piece that you keep coming back to, that just keeps going and going and going and ends up being the hardest working thing in your wardrobe,” she says of the Bento pieces.

“It’s so personal the way people dress themselves and what they choose and also the way people form opinions and segment themselves by what they choose," says Hardman of her interest in fashion."‘Oh he’s a beatnik and she’s a hippy, she’s an office worker and he’s very indie, she’s very fashion forward.’ What you wear on any given day is more a personal expression of just you than anything else you’ll do all day. Chances are no one else is standing there going, ‘You should wear that.’ I like the psychology of it. I like the intimacy of fashion.”

Bento’s stunning Spring Summer range will be in stores soon, and if you're quick you might even pick up some of the AW pieces before they disappear.