LOST AND FOUND VOLUME 3 ISSUE 5

Guest Editors – Susien Chong and Nic Briand

This issue’s guest editors are Lover – Bondi-based design duo Susien Chong and Nic Briand. Since 2001, they have been creating women’s clothing and denim with an ear to the stereo and an eye for nonchalant rock-goddess style. They weave film and music references through their collections and are loved right back from Bondi Markets to Barneys. At the moment, Nic and Susien are working on their new collection, due in New York any day now. When they’re not working, they love visiting Melbourne and training their cat Potato to get up at a civilised hour.

Lover

We have too many favourite Melbourne-based designers, design projects and shops to mention! Sydney is a very PR-driven city, and sometimes it seems as though the product gets lost in the mix. Whereas Melbourne design culture lets the product speak for itself.

DESIGN

A Month About Making
Once upon a time, craft was all about macaroni necklaces and puff paint t-shirts. Our good friends at Craft Victoria, however, are here to tell us that craft has pulled up its knitted socks. A Month About Making explores all aspects of the making process. Events and workshops dotted about the city will show off the crafty wares of artists such as Erik North, who is stuffing big ideas into the world’s smallest gallery at twentybythirty, and Victoria Mason, who pays homage to nannas and dress-ups at the Craft Victoria members exhibition, In the Making.

Find it: Until 6 September,
Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, tel: 03 9650 7775.

Lover

So much time and detail is spent on retail environments in Melbourne. There is an importance placed on the story that is being told. Whether you go into a coffee shop, a tarot card shop or the P.A.M. store, it has all been so well thought out. We love Babushka and Spellbox in the Royal Arcade, and Marais upstairs. We also love Chapel Street Bazaar, Metropolis Books and Greville Records. (If you clickety click on Lover, you can find a list of our Melbourne stockists.) Find it on a map.

RETAIL

Jungle Fever
There will be no forms of wildlife to maul your pretty face in this jungle. Why? Because they’re all dead – turned into bracelets. Then again, some of them were never alive to begin with, like those made of silver, polyurethane or Perspex. Jungle Fever is an exhibition of wearable art, curated by cult accessories boutique Glitzern, just in time for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week. Look out for ferocious one-off creations from 35 local and international designers including Elke Kramer, William Griffiths, Julia de Ville and New York’s Digby & Iona. We’re game if you are.

Find it: 2–13 September,
Glitzern, 1a Crossley Street, Melbourne,
tel: 03 9663 7921.

Lover

We don’t feel like we have even scratched the surface with galleries in Melbourne. However Don’t Come Gallery, The Narrows and ACMI are all favourites of ours. We also love the Arts Centre‘s George Adams Gallery, where we saw the mind-blowing Nick Cave exhibition. Find it on a map.

ARTS

Lamington Drive
Rumour has it that the lamington was born the evening of a glittering banquet in Cloncurry, Queensland, when an aggrieved diner, having dropped his sponge cake in the gravy boat, flung it over his shoulder, where it landed in a dish of coconut on the sideboard. We don’t think Jeremy Wortsman, founder of Australian illustrators’ agency The Jacky Winter Group, tossed any art into gravy boats before naming his new gallery, but it’s a pleasant mental image nonetheless. Lamington Drive launches on 21 August, its first exhibition starring We Buy Your Kids, a.k.a Biddy Maroney and Sonny Day. Don’t ruin your appetite.

Find it: Until 13 September,
Lamington Drive, 89 George Street, Fitzroy, tel: 03 8060 9745.

Lover

We love Gills Diner. The food and atmosphere is so inviting, and we like how it seems a bit tucked away. A lot of places in Melbourne feel like that. If a Sydney restaurant or store was hidden, it would go broke. Find it on a map.

NIGHTLIFE

The new Rob Roy
The Rob Roy has stood empty for months now, echoing faintly of bygone mayhem. This month, however, it will be reborn. ‘Ooh noo!’ You exclaim. ‘Gastro pub!’ Thanks be, we can assure you it’s in the good, party-wizened hands of Jerome Borazio (St Jerome’s) and the owners of The Empress Hotel. What to expect? Well, first up, a name. After that, a straight-talkin’ front bar and well-chosen DJs. Upstairs you’ll find The Happy Palace, accommodation for the creative traveler (free internet, free bikes, lovely rooms, listen up Sydney bands). With an interior by Melbourne’s Kano Hollamby, it will also look recycled, but not in a ‘sit on this milkcrate’ kind of way. Baited Breath.

Find it: 51 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (Corner of Gertrude Street).
Bookings and enquiries, email sasha@getnotorious.com

Lover

We came down to Melbourne in April for a sales trip and a friend’s wedding. We want to come back in October for another sales trip and a trial separation from Sydney. At the moment, we’re working on the perfect homemade nachos, training our cat not to wake us up at 6.30am, learning Queen songs on the guitar, and our new collection – the Spring/Summer half is due in New York any day now…