Hobart-based design studio, I Wish I Had a Little Shop, recently launched its summer 2015/16 collection, featuring wooden necklaces in bold colours.
Rosalie Malham began I Wish I Had a Little Shop in 2008, but had always been interested in making and designing. “Colour (and creating) has always been part of my life,” she explains. “The Crayola crayon caddy I received for my ninth birthday is probably the most used gift I’ve received—I loved sorting all the colours in their gradients.”
Today, Malham says she tries to challenge the way we traditionally think about colour and colour combinations through her accessories. This is evident in the I Wish I Had a Little Shop summer collections, including updated colour ways of popular items as well as two original ranges.
Both new collections—Memphis, a range of timber necklaces inspired by the geometric design movement that came out of Italy in the mid-1980s, and Gelati, bright hand dyed wooden bead necklaces—were designed by Malham in her Hobart studio.
Until recently Malham also manufactured her own products, a time consuming process she has had to give up as I Wish I Had a Little Shop has expanded. “The growth of the brand has meant I sadly just don’t have the time to make everything by hand myself, so the new Gelati collection was designed by me and made in the Philippines,” she says.
Malham also works with a small business in South Africa that employs young single mothers to hand shape and glaze ceramic beads from local African clays. Back in Hobart Rosalie uses the beads to make her ceramic Klei necklaces.
She says Hobart is a relatively small community, encouraging connections and collaborations between artists, makers and designers.
Flock of Two is the result of one such collaboration, and is run by Malham and her best friend Ruth Valentine. “We had always talked about starting some sort of design based business together. Last November the stars aligned for us and Flock of Two was born.”
The brand offers a range of hide and leather purses, leather tassels, and porcelain earrings and necklaces. These were launched at Life Instyle, and Malham says the tactile purses received a lot of attention and drew people to the stand, which showcased four different brands.
“We had so much positive feedback about our display, which was great because we had struggled with how to work four very different brands into one cohesive space,” she says.
I Wish I Had a Little Shop currently has stockists throughout Australia and New Zealand, and Malham says she appreciates retailers who support local makers.
“I guess our ideal stockist would be someone with an eye for detail and good design, a store that supports Australian designed and made, and whose customers appreciate a well-made product.
By Ruth Cooper
