The Tidal Collection: A Story Shaped by Life

When we first started designing this collection, it had a completely different name.

It was called Halcyon, a word that means a period of peace and calm. It was destined for Greece, where we had planned to photograph it among whitewashed villages, blue water, cliffs and tiny laneways.

Every detail had been carefully considered. Every timeline had been mapped out. We knew exactly what this collection was going to be.

Or so we thought.

Life certainly had other plans.

Earlier this year, I underwent emergency surgery following a serious spinal injury. Recovery has been a long process and, almost overnight, life looked very different for not only me, but my family and our staff. At the time we were supposed to be travelling and photographing the collection in Greece, I was instead beginning months of recovery and rehabilitation.

From the moment it happened, Mum put caring for me above everything else. There was no question about the collection, the photoshoot or what work needed to be done. She simply rearranged her life around what I needed and took each day as it came.

It turns out it does not matter whether your child is 29 weeks or 29 years old. A mother’s job never really changes.

In many ways, MegbyDesign began for exactly the same reason.

It was not built from a perfect business plan, a large investment or a particularly calm period of life. It began with a mother doing her best to create a life for her children.

Michelle built MegbyDesign from the ground up while raising us and navigating a new baby, international moves, stresses and all the other things life brings with it over 20 years. There were no perfect conditions and very few straight lines. She kept going, taking things one day at a time and making the best decision she could with whatever was in front of her at the time.

People often see a business once it has found its feet. They do not always see the years behind it, when it was simply being held together by determination, instinct and a woman who refused to give up on building something better for her family.

That same instinct has carried us through this year.

When I was injured, the business had to shift and adapt quickly. Plans changed, responsibilities moved and the things that once felt urgent suddenly were not. Mum cared for me first, balanced the running of the business, while the rest of our team did what we could to keep everything else moving.

At the same time, our production partners in India and Korea were navigating challenges of their own. Delays at fabric mills, rising transport costs and disruptions throughout the supply chain meant that the collection we had imagined was no longer going to come together in the way we had planned.

It quickly became obvious that we could not force Halcyon into a space where it no longer belonged.

Halcyon deserves its own moment, so we have decided to save it for another summer. Instead, we looked at what was in front of us and I began thinking about what this collection had become.

That is how Tidal was born.

Tidal felt right for a collection shaped by movement and unexpected change. Tides move in and out, plans shift, and life asks us to adapt. Sometimes the best thing we can do is stop fighting the change and find a new way forward.

This collection is about staying closer to home and remembering what matters most. We will be photographing it locally, surrounded by the people and places that have supported us through a very challenging year.

The pieces have been named after Australian beaches and coastal towns, reflecting that return to home and the comfort we find in familiar places.

True to its name, Tidal will also be released in waves rather than all at once.

As pieces arrive from our makers, we will photograph and release them in smaller groups. It is a different way of doing things for us, but it means we can share each piece with you when it is ready rather than holding everything back while we wait for the entire collection to come together and worrying about perfect timelines.

There is something quite fitting about that. Tidal will unfold gradually, with each new wave bringing something fresh.

MegbyDesign has never been built on perfect conditions.

But underneath all of that, it has always been about family. It was created by a mother determined to build a good life for her children, and 22 years later, that same mother stepped away from everything to care for one of them when she needed her most.

This collection has become a reminder that something does not have to happen exactly as planned to still become something beautiful.

Tidal may not be the collection we originally imagined, but it feels honest to where we are now. It is about adapting to change, staying close to the people we love and working with life as it is as we always do.

We look forward to sharing the first wave with you.