The story behind Nomad the Label, and the woman who shaped it from the road.
Louisa Warman didn’t set out to start a fashion label. She set out to chase the sun.
For over a decade, her home was a white van, six metres long and packed with a simple life. It was just her and her husband, travelling the long, open stretch of Australia’s east coast.
From Melbourne to Cairns, they moved with the seasons. In summer, they drifted through the southern markets. In winter, they headed north to Queensland. Setting up stalls in coastal towns, rolling out macrame, homewares, and bohemian dresses. Talking to strangers who quickly became familiar. Listening, always listening.
With every stop and every conversation, Louisa heard more — stories of change and reinvention, what it feels like when your body no longer fits the clothes you used to love, or when style starts to feel like something that belongs to someone younger, someone else.
At first, Louisa nodded in recognition. But over time, something more profound began to stir.
Louisa was turning 50 when she realised the clothes she had sold and worn for years no longer felt right on her body. It wasn’t about weight or size. It was about how the fabric clung in the wrong places, how waistbands bit into soft skin, how hems shifted awkwardly when she moved. She felt hot, bothered, and invisible.
Louisa wasn’t alone. She heard it again and again from women she met on the road. Everything felt like a compromise. Comfort meant giving up style, and style meant giving up breathability. Very little was made for women who were still moving through the world with energy and ease, but needed their clothing to understand that bodies change and comfort isn’t optional.
In 2020, when lockdown came and the markets stopped, Louisa and her husband parked the van. But something inside her kept moving. The stories she had collected over the years, her own discomfort, and the frustrations of other women began to take shape.
She realised she didn’t just want better clothes. She wanted a better relationship with clothing. One rooted in awareness, shaped by real life, and designed for women like her. Women who had lived, travelled, and adapted. Women whose bodies had changed, but whose sense of self had only grown stronger.
That was the beginning of Nomad the Label. And that clarity still informs everything she creates.
Every garment at Nomad the Label begins with a question: How will this feel on the body?
Louisa designs with deep empathy and precision. She notices how fabric sits, breathes, and moves when you do — the sleeve shape, the waistband tension, the small things that make a big difference in how you carry yourself through the day.
Each piece is made from natural, breathable fibres, including linen and cotton. There are no tight zips, stiff seams, or a need to rearrange yourself halfway through the day. It is just clothing that moves with you and says you are allowed to feel good in your skin, exactly as it is today. Comfortable, practical, thoughtful freedom.
If one piece captures everything Nomad stands for, it is the Sadhu Pants. They were Louisa’s first designs and remain the most loved.
The Sadhu Pants were built to meet real-life needs — movement, breathability, strength, and softness. Made from medium-weight, pre-washed French linen with a gently tapered leg and a mid-rise elasticated waistband, they offer structure without stiffness. Every detail, from the flat-felled seams to the roomy pockets, was considered through the lens of function and feeling.
Today, thousands of women across Australia and beyond wear and re-wear the Sadhu Pants. They’re loved for their ease, for how they pack and wear, and for the earthy, timeless shades they come in — charcoal, tahiti blue, cinnamon, flax, white, dusty pink, rust, and olive.
For Louisa, Sadhu Pants are never about fashion. They are about listening and making comfort feel effortless.
Today, Nomad the Label is worn by women who have raised families, built careers, and rebuilt themselves — those who still move through the world with curiosity, clarity, and care.
Some came to Nomad after years of frustration in the fitting room. Others found it while packing for a long-awaited trip, or rebuilding a wardrobe that finally reflects who they are. They weren’t looking for trends. They were looking for comfort they could count on, season after season.
If you’ve ever looked at your wardrobe and thought, “None of this feels like me anymore,” maybe it’s time to try something that finally does.
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