indie fashion

The first Perth Upmarket is on TODAY from 12pm - 5pm, so if you're an indie living in Perth, get down there quick!! You certainly don't want to miss out on over 50 labels displaying their wares!

We introduced you to Perth Upmarket back in early August, and some fantastic labels have jumped on board since then. For the full list, visit Perth Upmarket's retailers including the lovely labels pictured here... MAC Flameworked Beads, Jasmin Jones Jewellery, Bellymoo, Margie Oldfield, Hemd, Stuffaduck + many more.

Perth Upmarket is on today: Sunday 14 September 2008 from 12-5pm at the Perth Town Hall, cnr Barrack Street and Hay St Perth. Excitingly, it will become a quarterly event, so Perth indies will never have too long to wait for their favourite designers to emerge into the publich realm again!

Peppermint Magazine has launched!! The first issue is FREE and is spilling over with absolutely gorgeous images, products & environmentally-conscious labels from Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Collect your copy from one of the following stockists, or if that's a little too far to travel, hop to www.peppermintmag.com and you can order a copy to be posted specially to you for just AUD $3.50 (+$2.45 p&p).

Peppermint Magazine Stockists
BRISBANE: Bliss Ecowear (15 LaTrobe Terrace, Paddington), Retro Metro (297 Given Terrace, Paddington), Blue Lotus Cafe (Shop 16, Kelvin Grove Urban Village), Lyssy May (676 Wynnum Rd, Morningside), Kropp Organic Hair Salon (112 Bennetts Rd, Morningside), Box Vintage (29 Vulture St, West End), The Region (Boundary St, West End), One Colour (West End Flea Markets)
GOLD COAST: Inverse (21C James St, Burleigh Heads)
MELBOURNE: Bird Girl (155 Brunswick St, Fitzroy), Meet Me At Mikes (63 Brunswick St, Fitzroy), Thread Den (Level 1/16 Errol St, North Melbourne), Sankofa (3/245 Adderley St, West Melbourne)
ONLINE: www.ecodepot.com.au, www.ibutrade.com.au

Here's a sneak peek into Issue 1! The Peppermint Magazine Limelight Pages (the first of which are pictured above) display a Show & Tell of eco fashion & accessories. Loads of intriguing & unique labels including Bowerbird Vintage, Lyssy May and Thea & Sami just to name a few...

In "Skin and Threads", Peppermint Magazine takes a look behind the scenes at a local label which is taking steps towards a more sustainable future in style. Skin and Threads use only natural & organic fibres in their effortly chic designs, but surprisingly they found an initial resistance among boutiques to take on an eco-label. "There was a general perception that eco-friendly couldn't be fashionable" explains Penelope Cohen), who together with Emma Gathercole forms the duo behind Skin and Threads. How things have changed!

I love the Bamboo Fish t-shirt (AUD $114) featured on the Global Guy page. It is made by Pure Pod, a sustainable fashion label based in Mullumbimby in northern NSW. The Car Upholstery Wallets (AUD $45 each) look pretty cool too - these are from Nearly Roadkill.

The photography for the La Vie En Rose feature is beautiful! Garden greens with floral highlights & delicate, feminine fashion...

The first half of our recent Lark interview is also in print! (Click here to read the interview in full.) The wonderfully crafty Allison (who brought Lark with her when she moved here from the UK) has given us a wonderful insight to the workings of a successful handmade label. From her inspirations & obsessions, to co-ordinating the making of selected product lines by fair trade workers in India, and adults with disabilities through local organisation Windarring...

Watermelon hand-knitted fruit rattle by Lark - AUD $14.95 (incl. GST) from indie art & design store.

Lark products in store!

We've also stocked the indie store shelves with an array of Lark handmade products - colourful knitted fruit & veggie rattles, knitted doughnuts & sweet treats, and gorgeous vintage storybook mirrors & magnets! The Lark lineup is very reasonably priced & would make such original & personal gifts for a new arrival or new mum, or anyone who has a soft spot for the stories of their childhood! We also have a few copies of Peppermint Magazine to give away, so the first three indies who purchase from our Lark product selection will also receive a copy of Issue 1 of this minty fresh mag!

Peachypan designer Fee must barely be able to keep up the pace - so many of her handmade Kanzashi hair accessories have moved to the "Sold" section of her web site since last I looked! (which wasn't that long ago...) The floral pretties pictured here are so beautifully handmade and all are currently for sale at www.peachypan.com. Japanese Snowdrop (my favourite for now!) is pictured above left while Marie Antoinette is featured above right. Below are Coconut Ice (delicious, left) and Forest (right) with its sweet leaf green highlight. Each of these is listed under "Everyday Kanzashi" - most of which are AUD $8.99 each.

Gold Coast designer Fee lived in Japan for a year and it opened her eyes to an amazing culture. She discovered the world of tsumami kanzashi - tsumami referring to the pinching of fabric, and kanzashi meaning hair clip. Kanzashi masters in Japan are responsible for creating the intricate hair pieces worn by geisha and maikos (apprentice geishas). Fee adored this unique art form & learnt how to make kanzashi from buying books in Japanese (quite a challenge when you can't read the language!) and from resources on the web. She finds the process coupled with the end result inspiring, and says that with a lot of patience, persistence and practice, it's extremely rewarding!

Elaborate Kanzashi: Crystal Drop (AUD $75) and Red Berries (AUD $50) from Peachypan

Inspired by "Kawaii" (a Japanese word referring to all things cute) she returned to Australia & in 2007, launched her own label, Peachypan - "Cute things for you and your hair". Specialising in her signature kanzashi, and with necklaces, rings, earrings, badges, tees & stickers joining the lineup, Peachypan is all about fun-loving colours and the sweet, cute simple things in life. Fee can't think of a better way to spend her time & hopes that the label above all offers people a cute fairytale escapism.

Pineapple Pieces and Lucky Star Kanzashi, AUD $8.99 each from Peachypan

As you can see, in addition to the "everyday kanzashi, Fee also creates "elaborate kanzashi" which are truly one-of-a-kind! They are incredibly detailed and range in price from AUD $50 to $75. The kanzashi-making process is quite complex. The first step is dying the silk. (This is perhaps Fee's favourite part - she loves colour & coming away with multicoloured stained fingers!) After the silk is dried, the huge sheets then need to be cut into tiny squares - certainly the most tedious part of the process... After that, each square is folded, origami style, into a petal. This is repeated until you have a flower. The true hair pieces worn by geisha and maikos have hundreds and hundreds of petals and would easily take up to a week to create.

Fee also creates super-cute accessories from found charms that she converts into necklaces or earrings - such as the Wishbone necklace pictured above (AUD $11.99). The sweet face on the neighbouring badge (AUD $1.99) is "Yagi", the playful black goat who also appears on Peachypan t-shirts.

Peachypan is stocked online at www.vintageartfarty.com and Leeloo, and of course, at www.peachypan.com

Guess what? We're currently visiting Melbourne with new season samples for our own label, Non-Fiction! In addition to printed womens tees & greeting cards, we've released our first range of mens tees, totes & archival prints. I love travelling around to so many of my favourite boutiques - especially since I don't get to see the Melbourne ones all that often, but it's definitely torture resisting temptation at each stop!

We're so excited about the new prints - we'd love to hear what you think & photos should appear on our web site (www.non-fiction.com.au) within a couple of weeks... Pictured above, clockwise from top left are: "Family Portrait II" womens t-shirt, "Bowerbird" tote, "Satellite" mens t-shirt & "Inka" greeting card (from the Family Portrait series). Hope you like them!

P.S. If there are retailers who stock Australian designers reading, we'd love to hear from you, wherever you are!

We're very excited to spill the beans on a brand new fashion mag about to launch right here in Australia! Peppermint Magazine is all about "fashion for a better-looking world". Fair trade, organic, vintage, sustainable, locally produced, recycled, responsibly-made or environmentally-friendly: it's all a step in the do-good direction... Peppermint Magazine is on a mission to bring you both local & international fashion, footwear, jewellery, art, design & culture - as long as it's fresh, cool and green!

Each issue, one of our very own feature interviews will be printed on those peppermint-flavoured recycled pages!! It probably won't actually be flavoured but it will be a free quarterly publication & we'll tell you much more when the first issue launches later this month... Right now, however, you're invited to enter Peppermint Magazine's ECO-ART competition. A different eco-art theme will be announced each issue and THEME ONE is: "When one tugs at a single thing in nature, one finds it attached to the rest of the world".

The top three entries will be printed in the next issue and the winners also receive some cool prizes including organic tees from Kowtow (NZ), clothing from Fully Stoked and bags & badges from Ooid (NZ)! Entries need to measure 260mm x 400mm vertical at 300dpi & the deadline for theme one is Monday 14th July. For more details, visit www.peppermintmag.com and stay tuned for more minty goodness!

Redrum Toddy Suit, AUD $120 and Roary Tartan Toddy Suit, AUD $135 from Toddy Sleepwear

Fun & fantastic, Toddy Sleepwear is a new label with some irresistible designs! These onesies and such have been designed by Melbourne's Michelle Legge and are 100% Australian made, using the softest Australian cotton/lycra fabric (and featuring Michelle's original prints).

Porky Rollo Tartan Shorties, AUD $40, Haggis-Ababa Tartan Singlet, AUD $60, The Amy Toddy Suit, AUD $120 and It's Plaid To See Tartan Cardy, AUD $90 from Toddy Sleepwear

With a bed bug for a logo, unisex designs, and even a bum flap in the signature onesie or "Toddy Suit", Toddy offers an offbeat alternative to the mainstream fare. Michelle sees the Toddy Suit as the ultimate winter pajama - "a practical winter garment and a quirky talking piece rich in retro-culture, the ideal combination for both the comfort and fashion conscious." The Winter 2008 collection is titled "Log Cabin Lullaby". Prepare to be surprised & delighted as murky monsters, bacteria bugs and forest freaks creep out from under your bed... you'll sleep safe & sound in a snugly Toddy Suit for sure!

Roary Tartan Toddy Suit, AUD $135 from Toddy Sleepwear

Completing the Toddy range is a series of sleepwear staples, each treated with a unique design twist to keep things interesting. In keeping with the retro children's pajama theme, Toddy also offers matching PJ sets consisting of lusciously long rib-trimmed leggings and quirky shoulder buttoned long-sleeve tops plus the usual suspects like boxer-style shorties, racer-back singlets & cosy cap-sleeved t-shirt nighties.

Buzzem Fuzzem Tartan Nighty, AUD $70, Haggis-Ababa Tartan Singlet, AUD $60, Blood Runner Tartan Legging, AUD $80, Galaxy Goanna PJ Top, AUD $80 and Orgen Borgen Tartan Legging, AUD $80 from Toddy Sleepwear

Toddy Sleepwear is available from the Toddy web site at www.toddy.com.au, where you'll also find size charts, plenty of cute pics, and... your perfect pajama, of course! So get back in the spirit of pillow fights and bed time stories & make Toddy the perfect excuse to sleep in on a winter weekend!

As I listen to that haunting Portishead track, I'm admiring a range of brooches & pendants that also possess a wooden heart. These beautifully crafted jewellery pieces are made by Shonah Tomkins, a Melbourne designer who works with fabric, resin & wood. Her designs are stocked in boutiques around Australia, and a few weeks ago, the Shonah Jewellery Design web site was launched!

All of Shonah's designs feature her original screen printed fabrics or vintage & patchwork fabrics which are mounted on Tasmanian Oak. You can choose a rectangular shaped pendant to highlight the fabric patterns (including various prints from "Baroque Wallpaper", "Oriental" and "Arts & Craft Movement"), or go for gorgeous animal/object shapes including "Indigo Bunting Bird", "Giraffe", "Alpaca" & "Lantern". These are availble in the Arts & Craft Movement fabric options. I adore the Lantern design - the shape is so striking, especially when worn over a dark top... Pictured in both of the images above, it is available as a brooch for AUD $45 or pendant for AUD $77.

Shonah has a flare for textiles, and combined her skills with her passion for unique jewellery to launch her label in 2006. Her pieces begin life in the hands of her father, who hand crafts pieces of Tasmanian oak in a quaint country town. For her new range, Shonah then combines pieces with resin & fabric, and has them laser cut into the quirky animal & object shapes such as the "Indigo Bunting Bird" pictured above (brooch AUD $45, pendant AUD $77).

The Rectangle pendants and brooches are simple & stunning. I particularly like the red/cream design from the Baroque Wallpaper series, pictured below (brooch AUD $35, pendant AUD $55). For more info & fabric options, beautiful photos, or to place an order, visit the brand new Shonah Jewellery Design web site, or check out one of the following stockists:

VIC: Love It (Melbourne City), Luft (North Fitzroy), Body (St Kilda East), Dollhouse (St Kilda), Emia (Sorrento), Kundalini Rising (Fitzroy), Prato (Echuca), Lustre (Ballarat), Manque Design (Westgarth), Queen Clothing (Collingwood & Windsor), Souk Lifestyle (Northcote & Armadale), Sentient Being (Eltham), I dream a Highway (Northcote), Nicola (Armadale), Cactus Jam (Melbourne City, Hawthorn, Port Melbourne)
NSW: Morrison (Sydney)
QLD: D’Pinga (Noosa)
WA: Morrison Fremantle & Claremont
TAS: Lustre (Hobart & Launceston), Inside Home and Gifts (Hobart)
ONLINE: Georgie Love

Hip? Young? Feisty? Yes? Then Young Lovers will be the perfect fit. Whether you're hanging out in Newtown or New York, you're sure to stand out from the crowd in one of these spunky screen printed tees. Pictured top left is "Pirate King" (AUD $59) with the "Young Lovers" signature print (AUD $59) right next door.

The Sydney label has recently released its highly anticipated third collection, titled "Midnight Twilight". The bold new prints "celebrate the madness of midnight love and all that surrounds it. It is for the sleepless ones who dare to not follow. It is the Young Lovers who will take over the city by night." A few neon colours should help out there - pictured above are "Guns&Arms" (left AUD $59) and "Murdermouse" (right, AUD $59).

I'm wondering which of these two tees is the scariest? The title of the daytime soap "Young & Restless" (left, AUD $59) or the razor sharp teeth of "Vampire Hounds" (right, AUD $59)? (I must admit now to having purchased the Young & Restless cookbook... and I was rather dissappointed to find that it lacked the drama of both the TV show and the t-shirt.)

This design has to be my favourite from the new range - a highly decorative traditional frame borders an image depicting a black cat eating licorice at midnight... (AUD $59) Below are "Lovers" (left, AUD $50) and "Dancing Shoes" (right, AUD $59). You'll be looking sharp in those!

Young Lovers tees are produced in strictly limited editions of 100. They are available in both guys & girls styles but you'd better be getting a move on as a couple of styles (not shown here) have already sold out. You can purchase tees directly from the Young Lovers web site at www.younglovers.com.au, or seek them out at the following stockists:

NSW: Beautiful on the Inside (Surry Hills), Roof on Fire (Paddington), Mint (Manly).
VIC: Kids in Berlin
QLD: Violent Green