Profile: Soft Constructions

We would like to introduce our new 'profiles blogger', Alira Callaghan. Alira has a strong interest in supporting local artists, designers and creatives and she will be bringing you articles on talented local creatives. The subject of her first profile is Seonaidh Murphy’s Soft Constructions.

What sort of things does Soft Constructions encompass? 
Soft Constructions is a Perth based illustration and design studio focused on creating unique, original and playful designs and products for their customers and clients. I use popular culture as inspiration and then utilise both hand worked and digital techniques (combined with a twist of humour) to create designs that can find themselves on any number of products.  There is a retail side to the business as well as a design side that is more focused on creating custom designs and products for clients such as menus, uniforms, logos etc.

I know you have a background in both art and design, what was it that attracted you to the textile side of design?I had always been involved in working with textiles.  Even at art school I did a lot of experimentation with textiles and sculpture.  I guess there is something about the tactility of it being able to be used to create 2d and 3d shapes.  I enjoy working between the two spheres of art and design because it gives me a creative outlet but I can still be business focused.

Can you briefly explain what is involved in your design process?
I do a bit of trend research and come up with some ideas.  Then I collect imagery and after that I start piecing together my designs.  From there I start incorporating puns and drawing them and painting them as I see fit.  Next I scan the design in and do any digital alterations and edits to it and it gets made into whichever product it needs to be.
 

Images courtesy of Soft Constructions

Does Soft Constructions offer you a creative outlet that is different to when you have done work in the fashion industry?
Definitely.  Soft Constructions allows me to utilize more of my skills and gives me the freedom to cross over into multiple disciplines.  I also get to indulge in my illustration skills, which is great!

A lot of your designs incorporate humour, have you always enjoyed the pun game or did that come through developing your practice?
I’ve always had a bit of a sense of humour.  Some people enjoy it and some people don’t, it wasn’t always very well received when I was in art school.  I feel like I have the ability to switch between serious and funny though and know the circumstances in which to use my comedic devices. 

What is your favourite aspect of your work for Soft Constructions? 
My favourite aspect is constantly growing the business into new and exciting places.  As I grow more opportunities come up and I really enjoy the challenge of being faced with new problems to solve.

Do you try to source your materials and services locally?
I try to source as much locally as I can and if I can’t source it locally I use Australian suppliers.  It can be hard but I seem to be able to make it work at the moment.

Images courtesy of Soft Constructions

How important has it been to the success of Soft Constructions to have support from the community and likeminded people?
It has been really important.  Being able to be inspired by the people around you gives you the strength to grow and flourish as a business.  I love being around people that are as excited as I am to make a difference and create unique and successful businesses.

What project/s are you currently working on?
I have lots of little things in the works.  I have a few custom products with local businesses that I’ll be able to let you in on soon.  I also have plans to grow the business into a very exciting place next year but I can’t say too much.

Where can we find your designs and products?
You can find our products at www.softconstructions.com and in:
Sugar and Nice, Inglewood        The Little Cheese Shop, Bayswater
Common Ground, Fremantle      Kakulas Sister, Fremantle
The Tenth State, Nedlands         Perth Upmarket

And soon to be in: 
Compendium, Fremantle       Addison and Steele, North Perth
Beehive, Fremantle


Alira Callaghan

RAW Perth presents EXPOSURE

On Thursday, 30th April Exposure will bring together 30+ local emerging artists spanning fashion, music, visual and performing arts, music and more for a one night extravaganza at Rosemount Hotel in North Perth. Exposure is the first of five emerging arts showcases to be run by RAW Perth in 2015 and this first showcase is packed wall to wall with Perth's best emerging creatives.

When: Thursday, 30th April // Doors open at 7:00pm

Where: Rosemount Hotel, 459 Fitzgerald Street, North Perth

How: Tickets are $16.50 (+bf) and are available through www.RAWartists.org/perth/exposure or $20 on the door.

FASHION[ing] FORMS : the craft of making exhibition

Tales of a Shipwrecked Jeweller by Helena Bogucki

Telstra Perth Fashion Festival steps off the runway and into Gallery Central with an exhibition of Western Australian fashion objects that is way “beyond garment”, curated by Anne Farren. The exhibition profiles the works of 18 WA practitioners that exemplify the resurgence in appreciation for the finely crafted object of adornment. It sets out to reposition the fashion object by challenging assumptions about the relationships between accessory related forms and the body.

A substantial 65 page publication is available to read on line http://weblity.com.au/fashioning_forms

The exhibition is at Gallery Central from 10 September to 4 October, Monday - Friday 10am - 4.45pm; Saturday 1 - 4pm. There will be floor talks with curator Anne Farren on Fridays 19 and 26 September at 10.15am.

Made on the Left stallholders - FASHION

This week, we are taking a look at the stallholders for the July 27 Made on the Left market. Today, we're looking at fashion and accessories.

1. Major Mitchell Designs 
2. Little Hell 
3. Mel P Designs 
4. Ella & Lily 
5. Birds on a Wire Fashion 
6. Raffaella Basini Creations 
7. unsunkfunk
8. Windermere Designs 
9. violetclothing 

Urban Couture 2014

Urban Couture provides a platform for Western Australian fashion creatives and beyond to showcase works in a series of events throughout March. The mission of Urban Couture is to support home-grown talent in generating industry exposure.

Now in its fourth year, Urban Couture has become a leading program in the Perth fashion calendar. Urban Couture aims to transform unconventional spaces into places of popular fashion happenings.

The 2013 program was an overwhelming success, supporting over 50 designers and 30 artists in a program of 14 events attracting over 30,000 visitors. In collaboration with the Joondalup Festival, Urban Couture 2014 is set to put the spotlight on designers, artists, illustrators and photographers nationwide.

Expressions of interest for Urban Couture 2014 have closed, however if you are interested in being involved and would like more information please call 9400 4230.

Up Late In Mt Hawthorn

On Friday 6th December, it's your chance to shop til you drop and experience the food, fashion, music and art of Mt Hawthorn. Watch as every store and restaurant comes alive with one night only offers, in-house parties and exclusive shopper entertainment. The party continues on the footpath and alleyways with pop up exhibitions, art installations, gourmet treats and guerilla performances. For lovers of fashion, you will be treated to live runway shows, mini makeovers, personal styling and more shopping than you can poke a coathanger at! When you have conquered the street, Axford Park on the corner of Oxford and Scarborough Beach Rd is where it's at with a pop up bar, international street food and live music rocking your socks from 4pm - 9pm.

Stallholder Profile: St Saviours

St Saviours are Matt Bale and Kate Hulett. They were first time stallholders at the July 2013 market and here is a bit more about them:

Tell us a bit about your business.

The concept for St Saviours actually started when Matt and I were on holiday in Perth a few years ago. We re-trimmed one of Matt’s hats while we were in Margaret River, and chatted about how it’s impossible to find non-mass-produced and affordable hats suitable for everyday wear. We both already had a thing for hats at this point…

Fast forward a year and we held our first market stall in London selling a load of hats we’d trimmed with vintage materials, flowers, feathers, interesting ribbons and so on. We sold one hat at our first market, and were completely stoked!

We slowly attracted a dedicated following, and were soon selling weekly at London’s Sunday Up Market, and at summer music festivals across the UK. We ended up quitting our ‘day jobs’ when a buyer from Topshop picked us up for their flagship Oxford Circus store… then Anthropologie on Regent Street… then Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge. The most exciting day was when Kylie Minogue bought one of our hats. We then saw a photo of her in a St Saviours hat, with Stella McCartney at the Madonna concert (cue overexcited screaming)!!

St Saviours was named after the converted vicarage we lived in, in East London. It’s where we did all our work. We left London in January 2013 to start a new life in Perth.

How does the UK compare to Perth in the handmade trade?

We have been doing A LOT of research in Perth, and are totally excited by what we’ve seen. There appears to be a super healthy handmade scene – I think the difference in Perth (when compared to the UK) is that there are less opportunities for the designer-makers to be exposed to the consumers. For example, less weekly markets, less festivals with curated shopping areas, less independent shops looking to stock local product, and so on. That’s why design markets, pop-up shops and support from existing retailers are so important – these opportunities encourage growth and development of the creative, handmade scene.

The great thing is that the people of Perth are really supportive of the markets, interesting shops, art/artists, and so on, so it’s the perfect storm of fantastic local supply, and eager demand.

In London, a lot of the markets are starting to become overrun with the ‘same-old-crap’ – lots of mass produced jewellery and fashion imported straight from abroad, so you start seeing different stalls within one market, selling the same stuff. This is so tragic, and means the people who really hand-make their goods are struggling as their products are inevitably more expensive and are swallowed up by the mass-produced rubbish. In addition, the customers start staying away. Why bother coming to a ‘designer’ market, when hardly anyone there is actually involved in the design process?

We found that organisations running the markets In the UK had lax screening criteria for their sellers – this is totally opposite in Perth. It’s like applying for a flipping Visa trying to get into Perth markets! But that’s great, and means customers know they are seeing products which are unique, interesting, well made, locally made, and so on.

Also we’ve seen some fantastic and innovative products, designers and artists in Perth – there is a real buzz in the creative scene which is evidenced through the fab markets, the pop-up shops and the concept stores dotted about town.

The key issue I can see in Perth, and this would apply to many designer-makers, is the access to, and the availability of, materials. It can be a struggle sourcing raw materials locally, and therefore you’re forced to ship items over from the East Coast, or abroad. And of course this means your costs increase before you’ve even started.

What inspires you?

We are very inspired by colour, texture and pattern, so you will see lots of our hats make use of interesting colour combinations and textured trimmings. Matt is currently obsessing over patterns and is designing some patterns for printing onto silk for hat trims and linings, and ladies scarves.

I guess we have an underlying aim to make hats for ‘people like us’, so that inspires us when we’re designing. We want ‘people like us’ to be able to afford them, and have access to them, and want to wear them – we have no grand aims to become the hat supplier to The Queen!


What do you love most about selling at markets?

The market is where we began our hat trade, and we both adore it (though, to be honest, the weekly Sunday early mornings/late nights in London did become mildly tiresome).

The markets are the best way to really ‘sell’ the features of your product to a customer.  I can’t count the number of people who have said “I’m buying this hat because you’re so passionate about it.”

I always say that talking to customers about your product is like going on a City Tour. You learn so much more, and the buildings, monuments and history are much more meaningful when you are with a guide. As a market trader, you are that guide.

And we really love that – chatting to customers about the hats is great fun. We completely missed talking to customers when we launched in Topshop, so much so that we’d often go in and hang around our stall in order to chat with customers.

What materials do you use?

Almost all our winter hats are blocked with wool-felt and the summer styles are generally woven paper, or Panama. We have worked with fur felt, straw, siminay, and other fabrics, but wool and Panama are our favourites. The trims range from millinery petersham, feathers, silk flowers, vintage silk ties, leather, laser cut vinyl… all sorts of things – trimming is the fun part.

What is your favourite part of the creative process?

We don’t work with collections; we are slap-dash and make things as they take our fancy. So this is really fun. If we spot a great silk scarf in a vintage shop – we then see how many uses we can get from the fabric. Pill box hat cover, a bow tie, hat trim… we love transforming vintage items into new products. It’s also exciting when we have new felt colours coming in for the hats, or a batch of newly dyed ribbons. There is always a flurry of excitement when there are new colours to play with…

What’s been your most popular item or line to date?

We sold thousands of hats in Topshop in Oxford Circus, and overall - the ladies fedora shape, was probably our most popular. It’s easy to wear, can look both smart, and casual – and (lucky for us) celebrities are always spotted wearing fedoras. We made an affordable, interesting, not-mass-produced product, which really resonated with the audience.

What new products are you working on?

We are looking into doing more unique hairpieces and hats suitable for weddings/races – without going down the fascinator or huge-80’s-style-hat road.

We are also really keen to continue make our hats with local supplies – which is proving tricky so far…

Where can we find you?

We are in the process of working out how we are going to get our hats ‘out there’ in Perth. We have a very exciting concept in the pipework, which entails hats and more… but it’s too early to talk about that now. In the meantime – we will be signing up take part in Perth’s designer markets, including of course, Made on the Left (if we make it through the screening process!).

Web: www.constructedinlondon.com

Write: hello@constructedinlondon.com

Follow: www.twitter.com/StSavioursHats

Like: www.facebook.com/StSavioursHats

Creative Short Courses at Central

Get your creative juices flowing by doing a creative short course at Central.

Learn a new skill, explore a passion and get that right brain firing with courses that span everything from music to digital media and 3D design, to fashion and health including Shodou: Japanese Calligraphy, Corsetry Design & Production, Ceramics: Design & make tableware, Furniture Making for Women - Make a Hand Dovetailed Box and lots more!

Enrolments are open now with workshops starting February 2013. Places are limited and on a first in first serve basis, full payment required to confirm place. For more information about the courses, visit the website or email enquiry.art@central.wa.edu.au .

Urban Couture 2013 Expression of Interest

Urban Couture is a month long program of events that provide a platform for Western Australian fashion creatives and beyond. Urban Couture is about transforming unconventional spaces into popular fashion happenings. Now in its third year, Urban Couture is a key feature of the Joondalup Festival. 

The City is looking for fashion designers, textile artists, fashion photographers, runway models, hair and makeup stylists and backstage stylists to join forces in the 2013 event. The scope encompasses a month long program of satellite events with a finale over the Joondalup Festival weekend, 23 – 24 March 2013 Participants are invited to get involved in the following:

• Aperture & Lace combined wearable art and fashion photography exhibition 
• Pop up Runways transforming unconventional spaces into guerrilla catwalks
• Restyle Marketplace chic open air shopping precinct featuring boutique designers

If you are interested in being part of the event, please download the Urban Couture 2013 Expression of Interest Pack and follow the links to the online expression of interest forms.

Expressions of interest including support materials must be received by 30 November 2012 and places are limited. For further information please contact the City on 9400 4926 or via email.

Creative Short Courses at Central

There are over 35 exciting workshops in art, fashion, jewellery, textiles & design technology starting August, 2012. Places are limited and on a first in first serve basis, full payment required to confirm place. Enrolments are closing soon so apply now!


Courses include:
Urban Art - Use a brush/roller to create street art graffiti-style images. Larger pieces and stencils will be used and applied with a sponge/roller.


Tattoo Design & Illustration - Learn how to design tattoo illustrations, that are thoughtful and look amazing with the curves and shape of the body.


Repairing Furniture: what's old is new again - Gain the skills and knowledge to save and give new life to furniture which has been damaged or is getting a little wobbly.

Bag It: Designer Printed Bags - Sew a bag and screen print it with a design of your own.

Corsetry Design & Production - Learn how to construct a boned and underwired corset.

For more information about the courses, visit the website and download the schedule and enrolment form and scan and reply to enquiry.art@central.wa.edu.au or fax to 9427 1973. 

Swap O Rama coming to Perth!! Artist Open Call

Swap-O-Rama-Rama - Artist Open Call

DATE: 5th December 2009
TIME: 10:00 -4:00
LOCATION: City Farm, East Perth
CONTACT: Sandra Bryans
sewanista@iprimus.com.au
0437 176 629

"There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness." Gandhi

Join in the communal process of reuse and celebrate our collective creativity! You are invited to participate in Swap-O-Rama-Rama as staff. Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a giant clothing swap and series of do-it-yourself workshops in which a community explores reuse and creativity through the recycling of used clothing. At Swap-ORama-Rama consumers are taught to be creators and this transformation takes place through the local talent in the community. Swap-O-Rama-Rama is seeking artists of all calibers, recyclers and creatives of all kinds for the following roles:
publicity, artist taught DIY workshops, designer run sewing stations, silk screening, fashion show production, reuse designers for a recycled fashion show, sorters (get first dibs on clothes) and general help.

Publicity: If you can help with print and other media publicity, we'd love your help promoting this exciting event.

DIY Workshops: If you have a unique skill that transforms would be trash into a wearable item (clothing/jewelry/handbag etc.) please consider bringing this to Swap-O-Rama-Rama in the form of a DIY workshop.

Sewing Station/Fashion Show: If you're a whiz behind a sewing machine and work with reuse, consider being a Swap-O-Rama-Rama designer helping people learn how to mod the used clothing they find at the swap. And join the Swap-O-Rama-Rama fashion show and show off your creations.

Fashion Show production: If you can co-ordinate and manage a dynamic, freestyle fashion show, we'd love your ideas and input.

Silk Screen Crew: If you're a silk screener and would like to join the silk screening crew, offering your fresh designs to bring used clothes back to life, please get in touch!

Music: What's a party without music? If you are a DJ or have a band, we'd love to hear from you.

Example: Previous workshops - http://gaiatreehouse.com/makerfaire07.htm
Previous Swap Images: http://gaiatreehouse.com/makerfaire/luizaleite/luizaleite.html
Previous Fashion Show Images: http://gaiatreehouse.com/makerfaire/luizaleitefs/luizaleitefs.html
About Swap-O-Rama-Rama: http://swaporamarama.org
Swap-O-Rama-Rama is a Creative Commons Project: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Treehugger Pod Cast: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/03/treehugger_tv_t_1.php

"This Swap-O-Rama-Rama event is part of an international network of non-profit events created by Wendy Tremayne and protected under a Creative Commons License."

Applications Open - Perth Fashion Festival

Want to show off your wares at the upcoming Perth Fashion Festival? Well here is your chance. Please find the images below as the application form to apply for participation in the second annual WA Designer Collection #2 showcase.

For further information, or to have the forms & an additional information pack sent directly to you via e-mail contact teagan@perthfashionfestival.com.au.

Please note applications open to Jewellery/Accessory and Fashion designers only.

perth fashion festival

4-10 september 2009

www.perthfashionfestival.com.au

Are you the next big thing in fashion?

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www.fashionpalette.com.au

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AN OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME ..... PLEASE READ ON

Do you know someone who is studying fashion, design or photography? Or maybe someone who is a fashion designer or fashion photographer looking for their big break?....

Fashion Palette 09 Excellence Awards are open for submissions... The 2009 Fashion Palette Excellence Awards have been designed to reward emerging Australian fashion designers and the up & coming industry professionals, by giving them the opportunity to be nominated for outstanding vision and achievement within their nominated category.

The Fashion Palette Excellence Award categories include:

1. Fashion Design

2. Accessory Design

3. Capturing Fashion

4. People’s choice award

Fashion Palette is committed to nurturing the development of the Australian fashion industry’s future designers. The awards are celebrations of the sheer talent emerging Australian designers have to offer. Fashion Palette is designed to bring together all facets of the fashion industry and to provide recognition to the best emerging Australian fashion designers.

Visit www.fashionpalette.com.au/fp-awards for full submission & prize information. Entries close 20th March.

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