Five Boroughs

The delightful Five Boroughs in East Brunswick is owned by business partners Stephanie Flemming and Kyle de Kuijer, who had been operating the screenprinting label Holly Daze for a few years and decided it would be nice to have a concept store for their work. But they stock other designers too, like Dani M, Kenji Uranishi, Small Rhino and Otto & Spike. ‘We have a specific aesthetic and criteria in mind’, say Steph and Kyle, to explain how they choose their stock. ‘We look for products that are handmade, have a reasonably low production run, or are otherwise unavailable in Melbourne. Work must be well constructed, and it’s always nice to have a story behind a product.’

Dani M ceramics at Five Boroughs, between $30 and $45 a piece.

Both Steph and Kyle have been living in East Brunswick for six years, so it seemed natural to set up shop in the neighbourhood. ‘We both grew up in central Victoria, and being in East Brunswick feels a bit like that’, Steph and Kyle explain. ‘There seems to be an equally great community feeling here, but certainly more great places for coffee though!’ (Not least El Mirage next door to Five Boroughs.)

Above: Kyle de Kuijer and Stephanie Flemming, Five Boroughs partners
Below: Small Rhino designs at Five Boroughs.

There are a lot of design stores around Melbourne these days, but Five Boroughs has something cutely retro about it that draws you in, and is significantly more affordable than some of the shiny Scando places in town. ‘We aren’t necessarily trying to be different’, say Steph and Kyle. ‘We love space, well-designed products, simplicity and we both should have been born in the 1950s, which is when we would like to live!’ Their favourite product from the store is Rewind coffee, packaged in an obvious nod to classic 50s design, which they like to drink out of a We Are Happy to Serve You ceramic cup. Non-coffee drinkers will be pleased to hear Rewind also make hot chocolate that comes in a similarly covetable container.

More shots of Five Boroughs on our Flickr page.

Five Boroughs
345 Lygon Street
East Brunswick VIC 3057
(03) 9388 1618
For opening hours check website

:: Arwen ::

Design overload in 3…2…1…

L: Decoration + Design R: Projekta_57

Is one not enough? Must Melbourne have TWO design festivals at the same time? It’s like having your birthday on Christmas Eve, or trying to out-do your brother’s present on Mother’s Day - sometimes it would be more enjoyable for all involved if you either united to create a super-event (the combined present), or separated the two completely (only six months to wait until the next one). Our similes are impeccable, no?

In orange and black, we have the State of Design festival; in black and pink, the Melbourne International Design Festival. Different events, different speakers, different coloured fonts. Both have core programs to educate and inspire but it’s the satellite events that pad the brochures and catch our eye. State of Design call them “Design for Everyone”, while over at the Melb International Design Fest they’re “PopUp events”. Whatever they call them, they’re mostly free, so we don’t mind!

Here at O.W.L. we’re as overwhelmed by the deluge of design events happening in the next fortnight as you are. To conteract the full-to-bursting programs which can all too often lead to either Festival Fatigue or its opposite, Festival Fear (and thus avoidance), here are our top picks from the cornucopia of design offerings.

We MUST. SEE.:

:: The Decoration + Design soft furnishings and interior products trade fair. Open to the public THIS SUNDAY from 1 to 5pm.

:: The Melbourne Design Market in the Federation Square car park THIS SUNDAY, 10am-5pm.

:: Projekta_57 at various businesses along the #57 tram route, “showcasing the design processes involved in furniture, home accessories, art and fashion production,” Saturdays 19 and 26 July.

:: Circuit, “an exhibition of wearable design which considers the ongoing feat of creativity” at Milly Sleeping, 157 Elgin St, Carlton, 17-27 July

:: The 4th Australian Poster Annual exhibition of finalists at BMW Edge in Fed Square, 17-27 July

We’ll hopefully see…

:: e.g. etal Jewellery Design Awards at e.g. etal, 185 Little Collins St, 16-24 July
:: Julia deVille - Prey at Eastern Market, 107 Grattan St Carlton, 16 July-3 August
:: 18 Chairs Escape (because Kate hearts bentwood chairs), at Thonet, 237 Napier St Fitzroy, 17-27 July
:: Architecture Awards - Exhibition of Entries at Urban Workshop, 50 Lonsdale St, 1-25 July
:: Houseplay (because we heart modern porcelain) at the Adelphi Hotel, 187 Flinders Lane, 17-27 July

We may walk past…
:: Vertical Garden @ Melbourne Central
:: 3 Tonne O’ Space

And when things quieten down, we’ll go to…
:: Design Now! National Graduates exhibition - on until 5 October, so relax!

L: Houseplay R: Prey by Julia deVille – photos courtesy the National Design Centre and State of Design

Melbourne International Design Festival homepage

State of Design Festival homepage

:: Kate and Arwen ::

Mo-tif of the month

What’s with all the mustaches around these days? Not the bristled, food-collecting kind but screenprinted, embroidered and carved ones. It sort of crept up on me - the first rustlings I heard were from Something’s Hiding In Here way back in the day with their Mustache Envy Kit, then all of a sudden every indie-quirky shop and Etsy seller worth their salt was jumping on the ’stachewagon. Be warned, puns are rife.

Observe:

{ Key Hook by Ben Floeter, US$40 (also at The Curiosity Shoppe); STACHEonery by rhymeswithtwee, US$4; Mustachio Nut print by olerattlesnake US$40; Mustache on a Stick by Something’s Hiding In Here, US$40; Mustache Handkerchief by avrilloreti US$16 }

And it goes without saying you can get temporary tattoos, stamp sets and a ’stache for your cat. Of course.

Note to self: In future, save all mustache-related posting for Movember, that traumatic month when normally attractive and sane men raise money for a good cause by doing bad things to their facial hair.

:: Kate ::

The humble cuppa

Spotted a couple of weeks ago at Birdman Eating on Gertrude Street – one very cute teapot for one, to accompany my banana bread (toasted, of course). But the plot grows thicker.

This beautiful specimen was bought for me by a very thoughtful relative who had noted my avian inclinations. And there’s still more…

This simple version of the egoïste (for that’s apparently what these teapots are called) is from T2, magical provider of all things tea-related. I spent hours in the Brunswick Street store today, sniffing different types of tea and wondering how much tea paraphernalia I could justify buying. I walked out the satisfied owner of Choc Chip Chai (sure, it’s a gimmick, but a delicious gimmick), but would’ve bought the object below if I’d had a spare $6 in my pocket.

(Available online here for those who don’t have the leisure of wasting hours in a T2 store).

:: Arwen ::

Cut from the same

Is my current adoration of neckwear beginning to show? Despite the chill in the air and a certain attraction to structural felted wool scarves, I am completely smitten by these elegant accessories from Cloth label’s second collection.

Designer Yang Li is currently studying menswear at the prestigious Central St Martins College of Art and Design in London, but apparently has an eye for the feminine side of things too. My fear of the knot on the left is somewhat allayed by the hope that there’s a sneaky fastening behind it to avoid uncomfortable and unsightly tourniquet incidents.

Best of all, Yang proves that Lycra is more fashionable than a trip to the gym might suggest (exhibit A, on the right), and jersey isn’t just for cows (exhibit B, on the left). Fabric is a wonderful thing when taken into the right hands.

Cloth accessories are available either by heading westside to Dilettante in Perth, or by contacting Yang at cloth.label@gmail.com. View all three Cloth collections online at www.clothlabel.com.au .

:: Kate ::

P.S. I first heard about Cloth on the Modamuse blog. Read it and be delighted at what Australian and NZ designers/artisans/crafters are doing.

Ah, the serenity

There have been moments in my life when I’ve had to let a fanciful dream go. The first came when I was about eight: I realised that the chances of me ever becoming Enid Blyton were slim, perhaps even nonexistent. The second painful realisation came when I realised that I wasn’t going to make the grade for the 1996 Olympics. (I had only been in the state relay team in 1992 because the backstroker pulled out.) Yet another crushing disappointment.

And now, at an indeterminate age in my mid-to-late twenties (I’m still clinging on to ‘mid’), I have realised that I probably won’t be a world-famous photographer. One look at Reuben’s photos made me realise that I’d best stick to holiday snaps and utilitarian journalistic shots. Reuben is an old friend who has been on sabbatical in Tokyo for the last six months, and his photos are simply glorious. They capture the strange, soft light and fluorescent buzz of Tokyo that sends me into a tailspin of nostalgia. I begin to see cherry-blossom petals drifting before my eyes and smell the toxic stink of Shibuya. Ah, the memories.

The beautiful Mia stars in photo #2 and the equally gorgeous Manabu in #4. More photos by Reuben on Flickr.

:: Arwen ::

The residential boat

Kate’s going through a woodgrain phase at the moment, so this might just be the perfect house for her. While escaping my computer over the weekend, I went to Blairgowrie, a nondescript and pleasant beachside town not far from Melbourne (and not far from Rosebud – although didn’t make it to the op shops this time). It was cold and grey, and I was windswept and mysterious (or red-cheeked and boofy-haired, actually). I’ve been watching Number 9 (above and below) take shape in a little Blairgowrie street over the last year, and it’s finally finished. I think I like it. You’ll note I didn’t take any of those glossy interior shots à la Vogue Living, because that would’ve necessitated breaking in, but use your imagination, folks. I bet it’s gorgeous.

:: Arwen ::

Send me a postcard

So many free postcards, so many crap ones. In my wanderings about town, I am drawn to those free postcard stands like a budget-conscious francophile to an A.P.C. sale. Much like a visit to the A.P.C. sale (everything good has already sold out), I am generally disappointed with the free postcards. However, I’m coming to the conclusion that free postcards shouldn’t be taken individually – they work en masse, as a sort of large, collective and spontaneous artwork. Here are some of the ones I’ve picked up around Melbourne recently.

If you’ve picked up a decent free postcard recently (here, there, or on the other side of the world), email it to us!

:: Arwen ::

Drawing a blank

A couple of years ago I had a brilliant idea for a shop – I would stock all kinds of things, clothes, paper goods, toys, homewares, all of them blank, plain, bare, naked, ready to be adorned. Then American Apparel came along and took care of the clothes side of things, and IKEA’s got furniture pretty much covered, but there’s still so much great stuff out there waiting to be embellished that it wouldn’t be hard to fill a shop. I did a quick vox pop and based on a sample of 3 friends, Blank would be a raging success.

Unfortunately I am neither a businesswoman nor wealthy enough to cashflow a retail venture, so Blank remains a blank. For anyone out there thinking of taking over where I left off, here are some starters:

{ My Penguins £5*; Bird house kit US$3.60*; Carve Your Own Card by Suck UK £7.50*; Mini Munny $20 at Robio; Paint your own Cow Parade cow £14.95*; DIY matryoshka dolls $7.20; Wind vane by Vert Design $35 }

Note to potential investors: This could also appeal to minimalists.

:: Kate ::

*Possibly not available in Australia, which only strengthens my proposition…

Not a knitter

I’m all for the current crafty DIY revival, I really am - and it’s working out nicely for me with all the handmade stuff I can buy in shops now. It’s just when I see something like That Little Scarf and realise it’s a pattern for sale, not the scarf, it’s like all those talented crafty people are, as one, sticking out their tongues and saying nyah. (Actually, they’re probably more likely to make me a cup of tea and offer to teach me how to knit, but it’s all the same really.)

{That Little Scarf pattern available for US$5 from Knitspot }

Knitting is not genetic - I’m proof of it, as both my grandmothers could whip up a cabled cardigan in no time, but my last attempt had more holes in it than a five-year-old’s logic and has since been stashed in that special place reserved for things I’ve made but will never wear. That Little Scarf is just not a feasible option.

Until I learn to knit, this little scarf from Frankie and Ray is rather tempting:

{ Vintage Flower Scarf by Frankie and Ray, AU$45 from Georgie Love }

.. and I’ll stick to buying handmade, which is much less traumatic for all involved.

:: Kate ::