This summer, we launched our first Assembly Label kidswear collection, offering an assortment of relaxed daily essentials for the little ones in our lives. To celebrate, we spoke with three Byron-based families about life along the New South Wales coast and their favourite ways to spend time together.
Through cultivating a lifestyle that favours design simplicity and an appreciation of the coast, we have watched as this has continued to develop a growing connection with young Australian families. This connection has made the creation of kidswear a natural evolution of Assembly Label, furthering a series of purposeful products that cater to lives lived between the city and the sea.
Our founders’ insight into their children’s practical clothing needs and experiences of how quickly they would grow out of pieces helped guide our approach to the collection, ensuring designs were functional, quality was high, and pricing was affordable and inclusive to the whole market.
In celebration of Assembly Label Kids, we were delighted to speak with three families about their lives at home in Byron Bay and what they most love about living coastal.
Kelly, Josh and Sunny
We are a beach-loving, sun-chasing family of three (soon-to-be four) who moved from New Zealand to Sydney seven years ago before settling into Lennox Head just over a year ago.
Josh and I were both raised by the beach in New Zealand and we wanted to create a similar environment for our own children. We loved Bondi but as Sunny got older, we wanted to find a little more calm in our chaos. Byron Bay (and its surrounds) is a hive of entrepreneurial, young families all doing their best to balance work and family life. It’s a supportive, encouraging, relaxed lifestyle that has opened our eyes to what and how family life can be.
Our favourite thing to do as a family always involves the ocean.
We’re lucky that Sunny is a natural water baby and loves the water as much as Josh and I do; especially given our days are often spent in or around it. I own a marketing and brand strategy consultancy and my husband Josh, an environmental scientist by trade, now heads up digital advertising for my business. Our working week is varied as we juggle work and family but it’s tools down around 3 o’clock each day and straight to one of the beautiful beaches on our doorstep. On the weekends, our days start and end in the ocean or by the water.
Our proudest moments as parents have all included Sunny showing acts of kindness and empathy.
We might be biased, but Sunny is a super intelligent, thoughtful and sensitive little soul and we try to lead by example, expressing kindness, understanding and gratitude, always. She literally makes us proud every single day but most recently, when a friend told her she was having a bit of a bad day and asked Sunny what she did when she was feeling sad or grumpy, without any prompting, Sunny replied: “Well, I just go to the beach and sit in the sun and then it’s a good day”. Both Josh and I are naturally positive people and we do our best to encourage Sunny to see the good in every situation. This moment made us see that what we’re projecting is certainly being noticed.
When it comes to buying ‘things’, we try to limit our impact on the environment.
We’re lucky that we live in a place that allows for a lot of time outdoors, so we don’t feel like we need too much stuff. Of course, Sunny has toys, but we donate to our local Vinnies or friends once she stops playing with them and when it comes to clothing, now that she’s older, we look for well-made, quality, comfortable pieces that will wash and wear well.
We live…in paradise
We are currently loving… beach picnics and swims at dusk
Our weekends start with… Josh checking the wind to see which beach we’ll be going to
One item we can’t live without… the ocean
We’re listening to / reading… All The Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell and Alison Colpoys (Sunny), Red Table Talks and Offline, The Podcast (Kelly), The Ringer podcasts and Ain’t That Swell podcast (Josh).
Dan, Claire and River
We moved to Bangalow in Northern NSW two years ago and it was the best decision we ever made. Moving our little family of three (plus our dog Duck) up here from Sydney has made me more confident as a parent and more reassured in my choices. There is a wonderful community of supportive parents in Byron and they really lean on each other for help when needed.
Daniel’s day starts with a very early surf and he’s home before River and I wake.
In summer, we like to have our coffee and breakfast outside. I think River starting his day in the garden always sets him in a wonderful mood and he helps me to water my flowers and we all play with our dog, Duck. If the weather allows, we pop down to the beach for a swim at least once a day. The summers can be very hot up here, especially in Bangalow as it doesn’t get any sea breeze. Then the rest of the day we usually potter around the house, have friends over for a beer, and just relax.
River had more stamps in his passport by age two than most people I know. Travelling is one of our favourite things to do as a family. We’ve been to Japan and all through Europe and America in the past three years. Next on the list is Iceland.
We like to support small businesses that are passionate about what they do. We never really buy any of our clothes from large chain stores. We want to teach River that quality over quantity is so important and to really take care of what you have.
We live… in my dream town
We are currently loving… watermelon
Our weekends start with… a swim
One item we can’t live without… coffee machine or surfboards
We’re listening to… crime podcasts (once River is asleep, obviously!)
Tash, Nathan, Taki and Sana
Our day always starts with all four of us in bed for snuggles.
On weekdays, the mornings are madness with both Nathan and I heading to work and getting the kids ready and dropped to daycare. We’re always late because we love that lie-in together! Weekends are spent in the water, by the water, snacking on the beach and all four of us having midday sleeps! And our evenings include long baths and showers, reading, listening to music and dancing, playing on the floor and recapping our day before closing our eyes.
Throughout the summer, we camp most weekends as it’s our absolute favourite thing to do.
If we’re not camping, we’re always on the hunt for a new bushwalk or adventure. Living in the Northern Rivers makes this really easy to do! When Nath and I decided we wanted to have a baby, we both agreed that we didn’t want to raise our family in Sydney. We wanted to raise our children in a place where we would have space and time to enjoy our home and each other, to be away from the hustle of the city, to take things super slow and to be able to afford to buy a house for our family. Now we are here and living our absolute dream. We are so content with a very simple life. We’re also surrounded by wonderful people in this sublimely beautiful place, and we’re so thankful for that.
Our biggest role models are our own parents.
They are actually very similar, our parents, and as a result, Nathan and my values and morals are in line with one another, which makes parenting and decision making a really beautiful experience. The way we were raised and the experiences and opportunities we both had as children have definitely shaped who we are and how we parent our own children. We can only hope that we give our babies the same love, guidance and support we both had and still have.
We are immensely proud of our children every day.
It sounds typical but every day that our kids grow and develop and overcome challenges makes us indescribably happy and proud of them. Moments that stand out though are when Taki had surgery at 17 days old and came out the other side like nothing had happened at all. He was so tiny, but honestly, the bravest little boy or person we had ever met. He took our breath away. As for Sana, she was not breathing when she was born - we watched her come to life about five minutes after I gave birth. She was so happy to be with us and has not stopped smiling since, literally since the day she was born!
We live… in Ocean Shores, soon to be building our dream home in Brunswick Heads
We are currently loving… being in the sunshine and/or by the water at any given opportunity
Our weekends start with… cuddles in bed
One item we can’t live without… books
Photography by Lisa Sorgini