Katharina Mildren always dreamt of building a brand – now she’s a success story
How a young designer-turned-small business owner is laying the foundations to build a fashion empire.
Some of us search all our lives for meaning and purpose in our careers but for others, it comes to them through passion or innate skills.
Take Katharina Mildren, founder of Sydney-based fashion brand Katharina Lou, for example. The young designer’s deep connection to clothing has been there all along. However, like so many other entrepreneurs, learning the business side of things has been a work in progress.
But with the help of her accountants (who double as her parents), and the right foundations behind her, she’s on track to building a fashion empire.
It all started when Mildren graduated from the University of Technology Sydney with a fashion degree in 2019. And despite the spectre of the COVID pandemic looming large, 2020 saw Mildren launch the brand she had always dreamed of building.
“Having a brand was just something I always wanted to do,” Mildren says.
“I had a whole year off with a lot of time because no one was working, obviously, and that kind of pushed me into starting my label.”
In the nearly five years since, the Katharina Lou label has steadily grown on the back of a vibrant visual style, serious talent and – most of all – the hard work and dedication to make it happen.
The power of a dress
In 2025, Katharina Lou is going from strength to strength. Mildren, who has been travelling and working overseas, recently made her first full-time hire as the label’s sales have steadily increased.
“I’ve gone from sewing and running a new business to I’m responsible for someone’s income,” Mildren says.
There are plenty of reasons for that success – a focus on sustainability using deadstock fabrics, fostering a community through dinners and events, and being the brand’s very visible face.
Despite it all though, no fashion brand succeeds without its clothing striking a chord and, for Katharina Lou, one piece in particular has captured the public and pushed the brand forward – the OllyRose dress.
“It’s kind of the hero piece of my collection,” Mildren says.
Launched in one of her earliest collections, “it just very slowly took on a life of its own”.
“So when I started getting a little bit of traction with that dress, I couldn’t physically keep up with the demand of making it myself whilst doing everything else in the business,” Mildren reveals.
That’s no overstatement. In one nine-day period, the designer found herself swamped with dozens of orders that all needed to be sewn and sent.
“I think it was 77 dresses in nine days. That was a very manic time,” she says.
Xero: A friend in the business backend
As a sole trader and now small business owner, Mildren has faced a range of teething issues and learning curves.
While her talent for crafting wearable fashion pieces has been honed across a lifetime, some of her business-side skills have been a work in progress – as is the case with most entrepreneurs.
She’s been helped along by her parents’ knowledge of accounting and some critical pieces of tech to manage the day-to-day operations.
“Xero has been amazing,” Mildren says.
“I feel like, as someone who doesn’t have a financial background, it’s very user-friendly and I could understand it quite quickly.”
While Mildren has used Xero’s suite for everything from expense tracking to cash flow management, the biggest benefit has come since growing the Katharina Lou team with a new employee.
“The payroll tool has been amazing since hiring people, because I have no idea what I’m doing with that,” Mildren says.
“It’s just very user friendly and you can pay your employees’ superannuation so I don’t have to worry about that. And when I file my pay runs to the ATO, I have accurate information ready for me to then pay the right amount of tax.”
With Xero taking care of the backend, Mildren is primed to keep pushing Katharina Lou onwards and upwards – and she’s definitely in it for the long haul.
“I have very big goals,” says Mildren.
“I’m really putting in the work to be around for 20, 30, 40 years. I don’t just want to do this in my twenties and then go work for someone else – this is my life mission.”
