Heidi 'Bide' Middleton AM (b. 1971) and Sarah-Jane 'Sass' Clarke AM (b. 1974) are the founders of the fashion label Sass & Bide. After meeting at St Aidan's Anglican Girls School in Brisbane in 1992, Clarke studied business at Queensland University of Technology and Middleton commercial art at Queensland College of Art. A few years later, living in London, they began their fashion retail career selling customised jeans at Portobello Road markets. Returning to Australia in 1999, they established a tiny Sass & Bide outlet with a $70,000 loan, manning market stalls on the weekends to bring in extra income. With the launch of their skintight and super-low-slung jeans, their business skyrocketed and in 2001 they showed at Australian Fashion Week. After meeting Sarah Jessica Parker, who wore their clothes on Sex and the City, they made their international debut at London Fashion Week in 2002, followed by New York Fashion Week in 2003. Powering through numerous pregnancies as well as serious illness on Middleton's part, the close friends went on to show their collections regularly in London and New York, position their label in about 200 stores around the world and secure a place on the BRW list of Australia's richest people under 40. Myer bought out Sass & Bide in late 2013, and Clarke and Middleton severed ties with the brand in 2014. Clarke established her own label, Sarah-Jane Clarke, in 2018, while Middleton launched Artclub in 2019, an online business that combines her own paintings with eco-friendly fashion design and vintage pieces.
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