Farewell Unwrapped!

Unwrapped has always been one of Made On The Left’s favourite markets so it was a sad day when we learnt that their market on Sunday 24th March would be the last ever. MOTL caught up with founder Ebony Frost to find out all about her inspirational work helping designers sell their handmade work to the public through Unwrapped designer markets since 2006.

Ebony Frost

Do you and the rest of your team have any formal training/experience which helped you organise and manage an event?
I have a degree in Mass Communication and 10 years experience in large-scale event organisation, so I think the combination of the two has been very valuable. Team members along the journey have mostly been PR grads with lots of enthusiasm and a passion for locally designed products, which is always essential when you have to put in long hours!

Unwrapped are passionate about showcasing the best in designer handmade in an outdoor setting. Why did you consistently choose outdoor locations? 

Perth has a great climate and I felt we should make the most of that (though this has backfired on me several times!). Plus the atmosphere is much more relaxed if you have space to browse and wander down the street. 

Handmade has experienced such a huge surge in popularity over the past few years, why do you think this is? 

I think people are always looking for something new and quirky to help shape their personal style. Magazines like Frankie have helped promote the independent designer ethos in Australia over the past few years and I think it’s a philosophy that fits well with a lot of people and it made sense that eventually there would be a backlash against the mass-produced products we see everywhere. 

Does Unwrapped have any predictions for the future of handmade in the Western Australia; do you feel it will continue to grow in popularity? 

I think we need to be careful to nurture handmade as an industry. It’s too easy (and a lot cheaper) for designers to take production offshore to increase their profit margins. So we need to make sure we are prepared to pay a bit more for something that’s been handcrafted. 

What do you love most about putting on Unwrapped events and what do you find the most frustrating? 
I love the feedback I get from first time designers – they get such an enormous confidence boost from the event!
I guess it becomes frustrating when people are critical of things that I can’t control (like the weather) and perhaps don’t appreciate that good events don’t just ‘happen’, they require hundreds of hours of hard work and sacrifice.

Organising such huge events at great venues such as Forrest Chase must be very hard work; what inspired you to have it there? 

The City of Perth invited Unwrapped to be part of their Christmas events program.

What are you most proud of in terms of Unwrapped’s achievements and why? 

I wanted to change the cultural landscape in Perth when I started Unwrapped and I feel like we’ve done that. We started the ball rolling and allowed other events to establish themselves in the same vein. I think there are way more options out there for young designers now and that was always the main aim.

What can we look forward to from Unwrapped for the last market? 

The last event will hopefully be the best yet! It looks like being a perfect sunny Perth day… we’ll have 60 stalls of your favourite designers, plus a whole lot of new ones. The theme for this event is ‘vintage’ so expect to see ‘old meets’ new’ influences throughout the stalls, plus a Laneway Art Gallery with some fantastic photography and art!

 

The last Unwrapped will be held in South Perth. 
11:00am - 5:00pm, Sunday 24 March 2013
Angelo Street, South Perth. Don't miss it!