Copy of The Full Story

 

Mamooco is a handcrafted design studio, inspired by nature, creating beautiful pieces for the heart and the home. Art, Apparel, Adornment, Interiors and inspiration to nourish the soul.

Crafting things has been part of my make up for as long as I remember. I come from a pedigree of makers, making do. I have memories of wandering through my grandparents garden with  towering pines above me and prehistoric like pumpkin vines engulfing my bare feet, discovering all sorts of organic gems, just waiting to be transformed into fascinating creatures. This ideology has basically been the constant force throughout my life.

Mamooco has been a work in progress, dare I say, for more than 20 years. My original path was to pursue a career in interior design, but fate tilted me on another trajectory. Armed with a year of Art & Design, dipping my toes into ceramics, sculpture, photography, printmaking & illustration which lead to completing a degree in Fashion Design & a year of honours, I was focussed on a creative journey.

Mamooco Cloth- Working as a Fashion Designer for over 15 years, starting in larger corporations, I became disillusioned by the industry with anxiety of mass volume & high waste. I was sent on overseas buying trips to replicate overseas trends & copy labels. Frustrated with this & mass offshore production, I set out on my own with the ethos of my vision to go back to nature. To use natural fibres, silk, linen & cotton and to hand dye & print locally sourced fabrics with an old copper boiler, silk screens & block prints. I began drafting my own patterns again, sometimes sewing, but mostly using local machinists, I produced ready to wear ranges & made to measure garments, curating my own collections and collaborations in my own store.

Mamooco Art- Moving states from Melbourne to Brisbane and then to Sydney has all been a part of this evolution. Arriving in Sydney with a young family, living in small apartments & not having my machines, tables, fabrics and patterns, I turned to painting to appease my creative urges that were ignited when involved with my kids school Art Auction. I had always drawn since I was a child & had worked providing fashion illustrations, but to work with paints on a large scale (1.5 x 2mt) canvas... I was hooked. This led me to opening an art gallery with 6 other creatives for an amazing, rewarding adventure. My focus also turned back to my childhood love of textiles & yarns, reviving my passion for macrame & weaving, taught to me by mother & grandmother. Learning traditional crafts is like meditation. It's grounding and gives a sense of connection, like an umbilical cord to our past.

Mamooco Adorn- As a teenager, being left some sentimental pieces of jewellery from my grandmother and great aunt, stirred my interest in gemstones and crystals, which led me to scour through books on gemmology. I would handcraft pieces of adornment to compliment my garments using silks threads, leather, gold & silver findings with pearls, sea glass, shells, crystals & gems. I have worked in the custom made jewellery industry for 4 years and my love of nature again satiated with the awe of natural gems and crystals, fascinated how the earth & ocean can produce & nurture such beauty.

Mamooco Nest- I surround myself with things I love, things that bring joy and things that inspire me, like a bird feathering their nest with treasured finds. I am constantly enchanted by nature, its synergy, patterns, textures and colour palettes. Whether it be primal, I find an innate sense to collect & curate things from nature & bring them into my everyday life.

I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read this rather lengthy bio & welcome you to Mamooco. I hope you enjoy each page and become a part of the journey.

Mamooco is about finding inspiration from our nature surrounding us. Notice it, nurture it, embrace it.

X Melissa