Originally hailing from Western Australia, from a young age Georgie Young had a flair for design. At the age of 21, she made the big journey across the Nullarbor to Melbourne, to pursue this passion.
‘I had a single friend (with open arms) here at the time, and a desire to study Screen Print Design at RMIT Tafe,’ the designer recalls. Following this, she undertook a degree in textile design, also at RMIT, and after graduating, landed a job at Dryen, a family-run homewares company in Moorabbin. She stayed there for nearly seven years, totally immersed in the world of designing bedlinen, cushions and sheets for some of Australia’s biggest retailers.
Today, ‘going to work’ feels a little different! Working from a lofty studio on the top floor of her home in suburban Ringwood, Georgie has revelled in the opportunity to design on her own terms. Here, Georgie has returned to a hands-on design approach, developing her distinctive painterly patterns by layering ink, watercolour and gouache. ‘I tend to start by painting something quick and a bit loose in ink, then adding interesting shapes and details over the top with gouache,’ she explains. ‘I also move lots of shapes of tracing paper around to work out compositions’.
Right now, much of Georgie’s creative output happens after hours when her son is asleep – hence the name of her debut range ‘Sundown‘! ‘I’ve also always been fascinated by the colours of magic hour, that hour before the sun goes down and everything is dripping with a beautiful golden light,’ the designer adds.
Being a Mum has also informed the scale of Georgie’s new business, and was a key factor in her choice to manufacturer locally. A trip to India in 2015 to meet potential suppliers proved overwhelming, as the minimum order requirements were so large. Further research lead Georgie to discover that Melbourne has many affordable manufacturing resources she could tap in to, from fabric printed in Abbotsford, to cushions sewn in her own neighbourhood of Ringwood. We love that!
Georgie’s debut range includes six mix-and-match circular cushions, featuring hand-painted botanical patterns, and soft velvet trims. Alongside these, there are eight art prints, inspired by Georgie’s childhood memories of Western Australia: hiding in her Mum’s gorgeously lush garden, and painting every flower she could find!
Georgie Daphne’s Sundown will be launching on the July 18th. She will also be exhibiting at Life Instyle in the newbie section, 1st Life Instyle from August 2nd to 5th. For all the creative local shopkeepers out there, be sure to pop by Georgie’s stand, and say we sent you!
