The sixth-generation grazier who became a fashion designer

A sixth-generation grazier from Richmond in north-west Queensland, Alicia McClymont is also the founder and designer of fashion label, Antola Trading, which we have teamed up with for our latest subscription offer (more on that below!). After working on cattle properties across the Top End and flying helicopters for nearly a decade, the 37-year-old is now juggling motherhood with running her cattle properties and designing for Antola from her new home west of Orange in the Nangar Valley of New South Wales. Graziher recently sat down with Alicia for an update on life and Antola Trading, which is about to celebrate 10 years in business.

Graziher last caught up with you in late 2023. Can you tell us what’s happening in your life now?
Well, I guess the headliners are: I got engaged; moved to the property we live at now in New South Wales; bought another cattle property in Queensland; got a gorgeous Sheepadoodle called Banjo, who who was supposed to be a ‘mini’ but is now as big as a horse; have done a huge amount of travelling between the properties and a bit overseas (which I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of); and, most importantly, we welcomed our beautiful baby girl Arabella Valentine into the world last year.

What has it been like becoming a mum?
I was really lucky to have a calm pregnancy, a smooth birth and a very chilled little baby to learn how to be a mother with. She’s such a happy soul — truly the most precious little human I could have ever hoped for. It’s been a deeply fulfilling experience, getting to know each stage of her growth and development. I often find myself caught between thinking, ‘I can’t wait until she walks, talks, or rides a horse’ and ‘I can’t believe how fast she’s growing’. I just want time to slow down.

How do you start each morning?
Lately, I’ve been starting each morning with a snuggly little human breathing on my face. Normally, I can’t stand anyone breathing on me (who can?), especially not in my face, but her warm little puffs are honestly the cutest thing, and somehow totally welcome at six in the morning. Bella’s taken to waking around four in the morning, so I bring her in from her nursery and she spends a few more hours curled up next to me. I’ve got no idea how long this phase will last, but for now, I’m soaking up every bit of sweet baby breath while I can.

You are about to celebrate 10 years of Antola Trading. What do you wish you had known when you started?
Oh, that’s a tough one. The first thing that springs to mind is that I wish I’d known much help there is out there if you are just willing to ask (which I was not). I felt like I needed to know what I was doing from day one, and I think that can actually hinder growth sometimes because you’re not taking as many risks for fear of failing. But sometimes those risks pay off, and if they don’t, you learn a lot from the mistakes.

Believing something has to be perfect before you put it out into the world is a mistake. Nothing is going to be perfect, it’s just the iteration before the next best thing you do.

The business is named after two very important people in your life and they must be very proud of what you have achieved. What do they say to you about Antola Trading?
Well, my beautiful mum Antonia has always been my biggest cheerleader — full of endless, often unwarranted praise for even the smallest things I do. When it comes to Antola, she genuinely loves the shirts, wears them all the time, and frequently asks for sold-out styles to be specially remade for her. We can’t do that unfortunately, which she knows, but that doesn’t stop her from asking. She’s incredibly proud of me, but I think she’d be just as proud if I were a parking inspector.

And my grandmother Nola — she used to say she was very honoured that I thought so much of her style that I named the brand after her. She passed away last year at 102. Thankfully, I was able to jump on a plane in time to introduce her to Bella, who was eight weeks old at the time. That’s a memory I’ll always treasure, seeing my little girl in the arms of such a remarkable woman, born more than a century earlier. I’m so grateful we had that time together.

We have seen your amazing home built from shipping containers on Instagram. Can you tell us about that?The ‘Lego House’ as I call it, was a solution to a Covid and remote-location problem. I needed another house on my property but getting tradesmen to come that far west is very tough. So I thought if I could get the containers 95% fitted out where the tradies are (on the coast) then I could just truck them out, drop them on the stumps and the builders would have a much smaller job of joining and finishing them onsite.

It worked really well. From start to finish, I had a cool little two-bedroom house in five weeks. The best thing is that it seals out the dust while we’re away, so we come home (to our Queensland home) to a house that is really easy to look after, usually arriving straight into a pretty busy mustering schedule!

Favourite way to spend five minutes of your day?
Trying to find new ways to make Bella laugh. That sound is magic, and my latest addiction.