INTERVIEW

STYLE PONY ON STYLESTALKER. Behind the scenes of Australian brand stylestalker...an interview with designer Sue-Ann. 

Have you ever wondered how you actually run a creative business? I know I have, so I decided to ask the gorgeous Sue-Ann, one half of stylestalker, a few questions about what happens behind closed doors at stylestalker HQ. 

1. What are your backgrounds? What path led you to establishing the stylestalker brand? Rachel and I come from a marketing background. We were working together at an Ad agency and found we were spending all our time on blogs. We've always loved clothes so when we couldn't find what we wanted to buy, we decided to make it. 

2. What does creating and designing for a fashion brand involve? I'm interested in mundane and amazing! 

1. Inspiration

2. Research. 

3. Fabric and trim sourcing (china)

4. Designing (the hardest part is culling cause we always have a billion ideas). 

5. Getting the samples done and getting stuff made. 

3. You have an active online presence with your blog, twitter, Facebook and lookbook accounts. Is this the main way you market your brand?

We are incredibly passionate about online and stylestalker started as a small online store. We find that this medium of communication is relevant and engaging to us and our customers. We also do PR for offline presence as well. 

4. You create campaigns with some fantastic Australian models. At what stage of crewing a collection do you decide on the model? Does this influence or inspire the designs in any way?

Of course! Every collection has a muse, a girl who embodies the kind of girl we're designing for. Our models strongly reflect that. 

5. Stylestalker seems to have come so far since its inception. What has been the most exciting moment so far? What goals do you have for the brand in the next five years?

Being able to afford staff members has been a massive highlight! Also, seeing our stuff in Selfridges, David Jones and on celebs like Sienna Miller. Over the next five years we want to keep doing what we're doing, making cool stuff that people want to buy and keep having fun. 

Thanks so much Sue-Ann, very insightful. Keep doing what you are doing! x

FASHION

SOMETHING ELSE FROM SOMETHING ELSE. 

While re-reading Russh October/November 2011 last night, I came across a little interview with the people behind the Something Else /Ken Done collaboration.

The creators of the dress I raved about:
Natalie Wood (Something Else designer)
George Barnes (Something Else in-house artist)
Ken Done

The Russh interview:

What is your favourite piece from the the collection?

Ken Done: I love them all but I particularly enjoyed the Kaleidadone Kimono. Maybe I could wear one swanning around the studio?

What was your desire in reinterpreting the works?

George Barnes: To keep the essence of what Ken Done is in my eyes - which is fun, joyful, carefree art, rich in colour and texture. I wanted to adapt these characteristics into my work, for each design to look as good as I could make them. Hopefully it appeals to the generation that grew up with a piece of Done and to the generation about to discover his work!

Why did you approach Ken Done to do a collaboration?

Natalie Wood: We wanted to do a really fun collaboration for summer. We already had a theme, which was about this marine girl superhero character who protects all the coral reefs and sea creatures. So we were already looking at beautiful coral pictures... then we chatted about what sort of artist could work with that theme, and the Ken Done name came up. It was pretty instant that it would be such an amazing collaboration. He is a true icon in Australia so we thought we would launch the first of a series of high profile collaborations on homegrown soil. I also really liked the nostalgic feel to the project; it really stirred something inside people and there was a lot of reminiscing. I was really quite starstruck when I first met him, and to find ourselves in the midst of the Ken Done archives was truly magical. His reef series paintings that he personally showed me through took my breath away.

INTERVIEW

WHAT IS LEONARD AND WHY IS IT IN MY LETTER BOX? Five questions with John Albrecht. 

When a newspaper called 'Leonard' arrived in my letter box I was intrigued. It was published by auction house Leonard Joel, a place I knew you could score a bargain at the weekly auction, buy a second-hand Hermes Birkin or admire antiques. All interesting (and even exciting on auction day), but Leonard Joel never came to mind when thinking about the latest inspiring design. After all, it is where my Uncle shops. So what was this visually appealing, aesthetically pleasing newspaper/design magazine hybrid doing in my letter box? I decided to contact John Albrecht, managing director, to find out a little about his role and why Leonard Joel seemed to be changing its image.

1. What path led you to your role as Managing Director of Leonard Joel? I was born in to the art and antiques industry. My family owned Kozminsky. But you don’t fall in love with an industry that you are born in to. You grow to love things or dislike things and I grew to love my industry – I could think of nothing else more fun to do than manage this mini-economy of beautiful things for interesting people! My path was a disjointed roller coaster with no grand plan other than that I kept finding my way back to what I loved and despite various setbacks I always remained positive and continued to dream. 

2. How would you define Leonard? A magazine? Newspaper? Auction catalogue? Do you have a specific idea of what you want Leonard to be? We discovered that clients are tired of receiving the same old DLs from every auction house month in month out with the same old information on them that carries little to no value. We have collapsed the DL concept, supplanted it with “valuable and useful” content and as a subsidiary exercise still managed to provide clients with all the viewing and auction information they need. To us LEONARD is “our month” in a broadsheet!

3. I find Leonard very visually appealing; the aesthetic is bold and elegant. It is not a typical auction catalogue. What was your reasoning behind the design and layout of the publication? Our creative adviser Daniel Callan of Callan & Assoc. wanted it to be bold, atypical, content-driven and spacious. I trusted his judgment and love the result.

4. You state in your introduction that Leonard is one of many changes that are happening at Leonard Joel. What other changes will there be? Where do you predict Leonard Joel to be in 5 years? The fundamental changes that are well underway are a complete refurbishment of the business, both physically and culturally. Leonard Joel is about youthful expertise, new categories to collect and consider and ensuring that our clients experience both transparency and enjoyment, whether they are buying or selling through the firm.

5. Your article ‘the new collector’ expresses that “One could collect anything with a thematic logic and one was a collector”. Why do you think people like to collect, regardless of perceived value or importance by traditional collectors? I think collecting is deeply personal and primal. Collecting at its most basic level is about surrounding oneself with things that create a sense of physical security and comfort. I think over the centuries this desire to collect to create physical security became something more intellectual and sadly, sometimes (but not always) more pretentious. Collecting is now about securing a memory, stimulating the senses, celebrating a passion, decorating an interior, accumulating something other than capital or perhaps convincing oneself or others that one is more complex or sophisticated.

I believe Leonard Joel are being very savvy in their approach of making auction houses more accessible and sharing knowledge. I am assuming that to survive in a future of the mass produced, or even online auction sites, they need to attract a younger generation of people who enjoy the experience of going to a physical auction house (and enjoy collecting). They certainly have succeeded in catching my attention.