Biography

The designer, Vienda Maria Pihan was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1981 to an Austrian mother and an Italian father. She travelled and lived all over Europe until at the age of 6, when she migrated with her family to Noosa, Australia. She has one half sister and two half brothers of which she is the oldest.
Vienda learnt to sew and knit from her mother at a young age and was always encouraged to draw, which resulted in a passion of drawing beautiful clothes that she dreamed of owning. From the age 15, when Vienda lived in the United States for a year as an exchange student, she has been travelling the world, exploring cultures and textiles, smells and tastes.
Her travels have included: Fiji, North & Central America, North Africa, Europe & UK, Asia & India and Australia.
She speaks fluent German and English as well as basic Spanish and Italian. Vienda also has a Bachelor of Psychology, fuelled by her need to understand people and cultures.
Vienda first embraced Eco-Friendly Fashion when she was exploring India’s textiles and fashion industry, and then was employed by an ethical fashion company in London to promote, sell and market eco-friendly designers from the UK. She has always loved fashion and often made her own clothing or altered clothing that she had acquired, however found that many of the eco-friendly fashion designs available were not aesthetically pleasing. As much as she loved the concept behind them, most of the clothes for sale didn’t appeal to her and Vienda began to wonder if there was space for an eco-friendly: ethical and organic fashion label that was more modern and on-trend; one that could be more appealing to the mainstream masses.
After 6 months of deliberating the idea (as well as some more travel in Europe and Morocco), Vienda returned to Australia and was accepted into NEIS (New Enterprise Incentive Scheme) a government initiative to support prospective new businesses. With her business plan written, spec sheets prepared and a small grant to get her going, Vienda is now on the verge of creating her first collection.
The journey of this new and exciting venture can be followed here!