Our Mission

Our mission is to raise awareness of sun safety by offering UV-protective, breathable apparel that features attractive designs and is easy to wear.

Australia is the sun cancer capital of the world, and New Zealand has the highest Melanoma rate in the world. Melanoma has a high risk of death, but if caught early, it is easily curable and definitely preventable. As they say, prevention is better than a cure.

We aim to make sun protection accessible and to maximise the outdoor experience. We hope our clothing encourages you to go out more and adopt a healthy lifestyle whilst protecting yourself, your family and your team from harsh UV rays.

 

Our Logo

 

Have you wondered what our logo means? Our emblem features the iconic saint, hand-painted on the side of Castle Hill. This small mountain/ hill (there is a debate about this) is located at the centre of the city of Townsville, where Design Works Apparel was born. We love this saint and Castle Hill, so we had to let him represent our brand.

The palm tree is another symbol of sun-embracing outdoor lifestyle and tropical living. We situated the saint under the palm leaves to give it shade, and the leaves also serve as a trunk for the palm tree. The saint and palm tree promote enjoying the great outdoors to the fullest with sun protection! ☀️

  

Our Team

Click each member to learn more.

Where It All Started

Our Passion for a Sun-loving Lifestyle

 

From the Great Barrier Reef and lush rainforests to crystal-clear creeks and dry land, the great outdoors is our lifestyle. UV is extremely high, especially here in North Queensland, and we found the necessity for sun-safe clothing. 

The only accessible UV-protective clothing before us was shirts with fish prints or dull, plain designs. We have decided to invent our own clothing for outdoor activities, not just for fishing, but also for walking dogs at the beach, bush walking, camping, kayaking, SUP boarding, horse riding, gardening and countless more!

Shirts are not just garments but statements. We want to wear a shirt that feels like it was designed just for us, to shout out who we are or to send a message. Our shirts cater for those who wish to achieve this in colours of their choice.

Nature has numerous shades that artificial tones cannot mimic. We aim to demonstrate actual colours of scenery and objects without intruding.

 

Our brand is built on and based on 3 principles:

1. Sun-loving: Our belief and love towards the sun, water, and land. We aim to accomplish coexistence with nature and an ideal outdoor lifestyle.
2. Custom-designed: Designs that reflect different interests and causes to help showcase your own.
3. Wearable: Fabric like no other, that endures the extreme sun of Australia and is still breathable and quick dry.

 

 

Why Choose Design Works

Living in Australia, we love the great outdoors, but always need to be alert for extreme UV rays and the scorching sun. Australia is located close to the ozone hole over the Antarctic, which brings much higher levels of UV radiation that reach the ground level.

 

We have adopted UPF50 and UPF30 UV-protective, quick-dry fabric to maximise your outdoor experience and indoor comfort. Our sublimated apparel is engineered to endure the extreme sun of Australia and still offer wearability. Tested and proven every day in the real world by real people, the breeze blows through our apparel, and sweat evaporates before pooling up.

 

We are all about design

Designed in Townsville, North Queensland, Design Works Apparel showcases vibrant colours and bold designs that elaborate on not only fishing but also on topics such as the outback, machinery, cities, towns, animals, flowers, and more. Our apparel is loved by people from all walks of life with different interests, from boating to simply walking on the beach, or just dressing up in the colours of our wearable canvases.

Our designs are pieces of art. A lot of research and thought have been put into each piece. Our designs are not just aesthetic but also authentic, meaningful, factual, historical, cultural, and relatable. For example, our new design, “Ned Kelly,” features actual images of the Victorian countryside from our trip to Ned’s old playground to learn more about him. We conducted extensive online research on him and on 19th-century Australian history.

 

Choose a design that suits you and wear it with pride!