MELBOURNE STREET FASHION

This Thursday the 27th, from 6pm the launch night of Melbourne Street Fashion photography exhibition kicks off at Comeback Kid boutique.

This is going to be a killer night, so if you want to get the fashion week party started early, come down and have some drinks on them, and be fashionably fashionable.

www.melbournestreetfashion.com

KINGS WAY

We had to report on a book that we just purchased, freshly released in July.

Kings Way is an in depth, faultless chronicle of the Melbourne graffiti scene spanning from the 80's & 90's and highlights the people who were driving the recognition of Melbourne as a graffiti icon on an international scale.

It's available for AUD$64.99 at Melbourne University press, and all good bookstores.

MATT CAPLIN

If you have taken a look around you lately you will have noticed that Australia is becoming a birthplace for some incredibly talented creative souls. And this is thankfully happening more and more frequently.

One such talented soul, is photographer Matt Caplin.

At only 18, his work is far above and beyond his years and is some of the most hauntingly beautiful work we've seen in a while.

View his work at http://mattcaplin.tumblr.com & http://www.mattcaplin.com/

GROWING JEWELERY

We've found another one. A jewellery label stepping outside of the normal realm of function.

Hafsteinn Juliusson makes "growing jewelery", a wearable type of jewelery that contains real live icelandic moss.

"...designed for people in metropolitan cities and is an experiment in drawing nature toward man, as nature being the presupposition of life"

Truly incredible.

VILLAINESS

Villainess make a beautiful range of perfumes, soaps, and other items that have a very distinct difference to other perfume labels.

For example, their Antihero Perfume Oil boasts the scent of "sweaty leather, the acrid smoke of cigarettes, and a soft side of honey and vanilla."

Not your cup of tea? Perhaps Embargo Perfume Oil is more your style, "Indonesian Patchouli spiked with imported spices - cloves, sandalwood, and cedarwood, and a drop of perfume - Tunisian jasmine, tuberose, lily of the valley, grape and Tahitian vanilla."

To be honest, we just love the concept and think the packaging is spot on.

You can even purchase a sample kit, great idea.

ENDEMIC WORLD

We often forget about the creativity and products that emerge from New Zealand, which makes us sad because they are a truly talented bunch.

Recently we stumbled onto endemicworld.com, a NZ online store selling - yep you guessed it, NZ items by NZ designers.

Our pick? The One-off hessian Trilby hats, made from "upcycled" hessian coffee sacks.

EFFING CARDS

The Effing Card Company, makes greeting cards adorned with the "eff" word.

We think that Australia could very well be the perfect customer demographic for this business.

Not only do they have greeting cards like well done you got effing married, but they also have business cards and mugs.

Even better, if you want them to write inside the card for you and mail it out to someone, they will - free of charge.

NELSON

A beer specifically made and marketed for the creative types?

It apparently hit Melbourne this month, but we are yet to be lucky enough to have tasted it.

Nelson beer is the product of Fosters and The Taboo Group, who came together and served beer to a thousand "creative types" and gathered feedback regarding taste, design, and names.

And there you have it. Nelson beer was born.

Know how this just got even better? The Temper Trap were recently asked to get on board to design a label for the beer, and we must say we think it looks fantastic.

Nelson is available in selected bars in Melbourne from this month, and retails for around $8 per bottle.

CLOTH

Fabric adornments that are worn like jewellery, but made from cloth is what the Australian accessories label Cloth is all about.

Their pieces, made from cotton, denim, even hair, are an original way to change the appearance of an outfit with just the single addition of one in your daily mix.

Available in a selection of colours, and ranging in price from $40AUD - $90AUD they can be purchased via their website.

COLAB EYEWEAR

If you've headed outside in the last few weeks, amidst the wind and rain there is a smell of Spring in the air. It's not far away, and soon after Spring comes Summer.

With the huge number of eyewear designers out there, if you are wanting to start preparing for the warmer days with a pair of sunglasses that are original, Australian, and with an extensive range of options to choose from, we have to point you in the direction of Colab Eyewear.

Colab is unique in that they "collaborate" with individual artists and designers to create a range of original eyewear.

In their words, "There is no constraint, no rules to follow, no target market to appease."

Examples of who they have collaborated with are; Perks & Mini, Eboy, Josh Petherick just to name a few.

Each style is limited to 1000 pairs, and are available to purchase via their website.

HARD GRAFT

We spend a fair bit of time hunting for independent designers and labels on Big Cartel.

If you aren't familiar with Big Cartel, it's a website that allows designers/labels to set up their own store online and sell their own products with minimal fuss.

Hard Graft is one of the labels we recently discovered and immediately had taken our breath away.

They are an independent label from Austria producing items from premium leather and 100% wool felt.

Their items include laptop sleeves, Moleskine covers, iPhone sleeves, and our favourite the 2UNFOLD laptop sleeve (currently out of stock, but keep an eye out) which can actually be worn 8 different ways.

Their design mission is to create all time classics, and we think all would agree that they have succeeded.

Their goods are available to purchase online via their store, here.

BILINGUAL

We were down at This Is Not A Design Market in Melbourne last week, and one of our stand out favourites was unisex Australian jewellery label bilingual.

Jewellery design is a really interesting discipline, it has less functionality requirements than clothing and yet it tends to have to fall into the repeated equation of what jewellery should do, or how it should be worn. And outside of its design aesthetic, the way it functions tends to remain the same.

Bilingual mixes this up. Their "Stopover" collection is reversible and has the incredible ability to anchor itself to the wearers clothing, which is an amazing take on what we have grown to know and accept within jewellery function.

Their pieces are unisex, and made from sterling silver.

Available to purchase here.

LET'S ACADEMISE

Our first post is a topical one.

Academy For Men, an online magazine created for the boys has just released their 3rd issue. And while it has come a long way since it started, it actually started off brilliantly to begin with and is just becoming scarily perfect as each issue goes by.

Rhys Ripper, the Creative Director and Editor in Chief isn't new to the scene, so he doesn't really need an introduction here.

But, the thing that we love is the talent that he hunts out and showcases in the magazine is a perfect blend of upcoming & often hidden designers in the same breath as the big international labels.

Rhys Ripper seems to take great pride and satisfaction in revealing to the world what talent we really do have in Australia, and this is not just within Fashion, but Music, Photography, Illustration, and Sport.

So if you haven't yet had a look, do yourself a favor and get onto it now.

Click here to read Academy For Men.

SUBMIT YOUR SUGGESTIONS.

Along Came John Doe will be launching on 25/07/09.

We will be hunting for new names within Art, Design, Fashion, and Culture, who are doing something that needs to be seen.

If you know of someone, or are someone, send us your suggestions and tip-offs.

Email suggestions to : alongcamejohndoe@gmail.com