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Roped in Jewellery
EMILY DORNBUSCH IS A TALENTED YOUNG DESIGNER BASED IN MELBOURNE, VICTORIA. SHE HAS CREATED HER OWN RANGE OF ROPE-BASED JEWELLERY WHICH, ALONG WITH HER HAND-MADE LEATHER JEWELLERY AND ACCESSORIES, MAKES UP THE EMELDO DESIGN COLLECTION.
by Mindy Cook
Each piece is cleverly handcrafted, designed and owned by her. We think her range – particularly the necklaces are gorgeous! When she is not in jewellery mode, Emily is freelance styling for Myer, Bonds and other fashion outlets. We assume this all makes her one very busy young woman! Yet she took some time out to chat with intocraft recently.
What was the inspiration behind your rope collection of jewellery? To be honest, it’s something that just happened by accident. I first saw some neon chain jewellery in Melbourne which was very simple and I thought, “hey, I should try to make something cool like this”. I located some neon ropes and just started creating. As far as my designs go, everything from that point has been a stepping stone. My jewellery designs aren’t anything that were ever planned… and trust me, there is still no planning behind this. I don’t even do sketches or research before I start a new style! However I do love to incorporate a Mexican feel into the range, so I often seek inspiration through blogs and magazines.
What else do you create & make, apart from your gorgeous jewellery? I create leather bags and purses, scarves and hopefully I’ll be doing a range of tees soon. I am also planning to incorporate other brands in my online store this year. Any designers who are interested in wholesaling their range alongside mine can contact me if they feel their designs are a good fit with mine!
Can you talk us through your project processes? I literally sit in my studio and play around with what I have. Or I find new materials and experiment with them. I never plan a piece, nor do I sketch it up or make any mood boards. I seem to work better this way. If I hate it, I will give it away or throw it out. Once I’ve created a piece I like, I photograph it and put it online. It’s all very simple. To that end, Emeldo is quite ‘process-free’!
You seem to be very busy! What’s an average day include for you? Yes I’m always super busy! Maybe it’s because I’m not very organised – haha! I am working full time with Emeldo but I’m also a freelance stylist/stylist assistant mainly for Myer and Bonds. Generally, my daily ritual is: wake up at 7am or earlier. Exercise – which keeps me sane and not stressed, then grab a smoothie and a coffee. Head to the studio – if it’s a hot day I will leave the studio early and go to the beach. Then by night I deal with e-mails and send online orders. That’s the average day. My boyfriend lives in Torquay and I am in Mt Eliza, so I get the ferry there (or vice versa) a few times a week. It’s great though – like going on a holiday every week! I must also tell you about my recent opportunity of a lifetime, designing a range for the Cotton On Foundation. As part of this, they flew me to Mannya in Southern Uganda where we created the pieces. I went with some of the Foundation team with all the materials and met with the Women’s Group there, who create beautiful baskets, mats, jewels etc to help earn money for the family. These 60 or so women assisted in creating all the pieces over many long days, sitting in the sunshine in the fields of Mannya. We had an amazing time and despite the language barriers we all laughed and learned together. Sounds like a fantastic experience, thanks for sharing this with us, Emily! Just finally….
Favourite colour? I would have always said red. Since Emeldo though, I LOVE PINK. If you met me though, you would know I am not a pink girl and would never wear it. But I just love how happy it is!
Favourite food? Ice cream… Closely followed by Marinara Linguini – YUM!
Summer or Winter? Summer 100%. I don’t mean to be negative but there isn’t one part of winter I actually enjoy.
Dog or cat? So hard to say! I love animals. Dogs are great for fun and cats are great for cuddles. I have one of each and that’s like asking me to choose my favourite child. |
To see more of Emily’s designs you can visit: http://www.emeldo.com/