TRAVEL, TRENDS & TURKISH DELIGHTS

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

Villa Erba in Cernobbio (Como), Italy

Next week Dorit and I are off to Turkey then Italy! Our first stop is Istanbul, to visit two mills we work closely with. It is an amazing opportunity for us to see their weaving facilities first hand and meet the people who help make our designs such as Patou, Firewheel Sheer, Hakama and Adita Embroidery a reality. If we are lucky enough to have spare time we hope to visit the Blue Mosque and perhaps go to the Grand Bazaar. This is both Dorit's and my first trip to Turkey, in fact it is my first ever trip to Europe! No doubt it will be extremely inspiring, and given that travel is a huge influence on our design process I am sure we will come back to Australia overflowing with ideas. I can already taste the Turkish Delights!

Next is Lake Como in Italy, to one of the leading international textile trade fairs of the year, ‘Proposte’. It will be a glimpse at the latest trends and textile developments by leading mills. Proposte is held at the picturesque Villa Erba in Cernobbio, pictured above. It will be spring in Italy, and although we have an incredibly busy schedule I can’t imagine a more beautiful location to spend the week working.

When we get back we will fill you in on our travel stories so keep posted.

MODERNE LAUNCH PHOTOS

Sydney Moderne launch overlooking Sydney Harbour

Sean McElroy, Mokum CEO, presenting at the Melbourne launch

Looking through sample books at the Brisbane launch

Adelaide Moderne launch

Tracey Guy, New Zealand Sales Manager, showing the collection at the Auckland launch

Our new Moderne collection has had an amazing response and we would like to share with you all the photos from our launch events.
Check them out here.
Thank you to everyone who attended!

AUCKLAND MODERNE LAUNCH

Hopetoun Alpha in Auckland

Auckland clients enjoying the evening

Jeremy Hansen from HOME New Zealand

Annie Van der Werf from Mokum, Debbie Abercrombie & Sylvia Sandford

Peter of Country Theme & David Shaw

Andrew from Icon Textiles & the team from Shibui

Annette Oughton, Janet Weir & Erika Farrant

Brydie Canham from Home New Zealand & Anne Stevenson from Mokum

Tracey Guy & Barbara Rysenbry

Our latest studio collection Moderne was launched on Thursday 8 April 2010, at the grand Hopetoun Alpha in Auckland. It was a fantastic evening with many of our staff and clients enjoying the evening's entertainment.

Speeches were presented by Sean McElroy, CEO of Mokum, Jeremy Hansen, Editor of HOME New Zealand and Stephanie Moffitt, Design Director of Mokum.

Thank you to David Shaw furniture and HOME New Zealand for all your support.

OTTO OTTO

Bethany and our new Moderne collection have been featured on New York blog otto!

otto is a design eye through which the the international architecture and design community sees itself and everything around it.

Check it out!

MELBOURNE MODERNE LAUNCH

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

Moderne Display

Annette & Grace from Saker Design

Dorothy Deguare & Tony Cardamon

Katrina & Jill Maria

Mokum's Melbourne sales team

Mokum's Design Director, Stephanie Moffitt

Aisan Tide, winner of the Coco Republic door prize

The HBA Design Group

The team from Coco Republic

"Mokum's Moderne collection, launched in the slick interior of Melbourne's Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, was well received by our clients. A great night was enjoyed by all while showcasing our new 1920's inspired range, networking and viewing the new textiles on Coco Republic's beautiful furniture.
Thank you to all our loyal customers who attended the event."
Nikky Jardine, Mokum, Melbourne Showroom

ADELAIDE MODERNE LAUNCH

Emily Geddes of Cheesman Architects and Danielle Sturgiou of 2 C Design

Carmel Siciliano owner of Stile Interiors, Sophia Leopardi and Bettina Kroehn of Williams Burton Architects, Laura Riach of Aptos Cruz Galleries

Maddy Potter of Memake and Katrina Cosh Stile Interiors

Dianne and Alec Hurec of K+M Furniture

Viewing the Moderne collection

Carmel Fusco of Covers and Things & Virginia Tonkin of Stallard and Tonkin Interiors

Mokum's Antenesca Madonna and Kelly Watson

The Moderne collection was launched in Adelaide in a small private library called The Circulating Library at the State Library of South Australia. The atmosphere was indicative of the theme of Moderne and unlike other state releases, it was a lot more intimate. This allowed Bethany to present the collection and explain in depth the inspiration behind each design.

“Thank you so much for giving us all such a treat last night. The library was the most perfect room, only made more so by the brilliant presentation of your latest range of fabrics that look and are so fabulous. Bethany was so interesting to listen to and it’s always interesting to have a bit of background.” Wendy Wauchope from Wendy Wauchope Interior Design

30 DAYS OF HOME & ENTERTAINING

April is an exciting month with a number of events taking place throughout Sydney for 30 Days of Home & Entertaining.

Chuck and Bob in Amelia Street Waterloo (the location of our Moderne shoot) will be transformed into a "live" house. From April 16-25, there will be over 60 events ranging from interior design, outdoor entertaining, international design trends through to paint and paper palette and cocktail canapé events. A purpose built garden will also be featured outside the venue over the 10 Days.

Take a peek and register online!

FLORAL REPEATS

ALL OVER REPEAT

Jardin des Tuileries, Mokum's Dauphine Collection 2008

HALF DROP REPEAT

Spice, Mrs. Press "Dressing Table" 2009

Tea Rose, Mrs. Press "Dressing Table" 2009

STRAIGHT REPEAT

Petit Trianon, Mokum's Dauphine Collection 2008

Pomegranate, Mokum's Dauphine Collection 2008

BORDER REPEAT

Magnolia Dress, Mrs. Press Ready to Wear 2009

Kartuli, Meridian's Folk Collection 2008

When it comes to designing a floral the repeat options are endless. You may think this would make things easier but it really doesn't, if anything it makes it so much more difficult!

Each repeat option above demonstrates how much a repeat system can influence a design. It can be a simple half drop or an all over repeat. All over repeats in my opinion can be best described as a puzzle in which you and you only can make it fit together.

For me the Mokum Kartuli border design was one of the most challenging, as it is three metres wide, this meant my design also had to be three metres as well and no repeat!! This design took me so long to design and if it wasn't for Cathy Brown saying she believed in me I probably would have given up.

Every mill we work with world wide has different looms that are set to specialised repeat sizes. So when we have finished a design and chosen a quality, whether it be silk or velvet, we then need to make it the right size repeat for the weaving looms capability.

When it comes to embroidery its even more difficult, not only do you need a horizontal repeat size from the mill, you also need to know the vertical repeat size. If you didn't know these repeat options before starting your design it could end up quite distorted. This happened to me with Petit Trianon, but luckily I only had to alter it slightly.

To sum it up, floral designs in any repeat are very beautiful but in my opinion the process is quite the opposite!!

MEET STEPHANIE MOFFITT

Mokum's Design Director Stephanie Moffitt

Royce Epstein from Repeat.No Repeat. interviewed Stephanie last week discussing how she became Mokum's Design Director and where she draws her inspirations from. Royce Epstein, a veteran Resource Specialist at Kling Stubbins in Philadelphia, one of the largest architecture and interior design firms in the United States. Repeat.No Repeat. offers access to the vast world of materials, finishes, products, and interior design from an insider's perspective.

BRISBANE MODERNE LAUNCH

Moderne Scene

Jenny Ford & Guest

Lee from Complete Home Decor & Guest

Georgia from GS Style & Stephanie Moffitt

Mokum Girls Jocelyn, Angela & Sophie

Coco Republic Girls

Sarah & Chevaun from the Village

Brisbane clients enjoying the night

Our new studio collection Moderne was launched recently at Light Space in Brisbane. Over 100 guests attended the night with speeches from our General Manager of Sales Andrew Collins and our Design Director Stephanie Moffitt.

Thank you again Vogue Living and Coco Republic for all your support!