Elegant London florist graces Perth’s event scene

I met Nathalie recently and we hit it off straight away. Elegant and warm just like her shop on Rokeby Road, Nathalie is a joy to work with. Her experience in the London scene and her commitment to the utmost quality makes Perth very lucky to have her.

After a lot of hard work and a few good lessons learnt, Nathalie Louise Flower Design opened their retail studio in Subiaco on April 10 this year. Located at the lovely leafy end of Rokeby Rd Nathalie Louise will be providing beautiful flowers for all occasions, from weddings & corporate events to bouquet deliveries and flowers for the home.

Nathalie’s love for flowers has always been there but her ability to do anything with that love started in London where she trained with and then worked for one of London’s top floral designers. London is where she learned how fast-paced and exhilarating the industry could be. Transforming a space by injecting colour, style and scent before an event, in a home or inside a corporate office gives her such a great feeling.

Every floral designer has their own style.  Although Nathalie would never mock another florist’s style, she is loyal to her own and sometimes would prefer to refuse work rather than put her name to a design she fundamentally can’t relate to.  Nathalie likes to work with clients who love her style and trust her knowledge & creativity as they are the easiest to work with! It’s Nathalie’s job to interpret the client’s ideas, style and personality into flower designs that they will love! Nathalie Louise’s retail studio emanates her style: luxurious, vintage with a contemporary edge.

www.nathalielouise.com

From classic to kitsch – Perth Stores we love!

We interviewed the owners of some Perth stores we love. Here are their stories…

Ruck Rover General Store

(We love them because they are two sisters doing it for themselves.)

Back in 2005 sisters (and best friends) Claire and Isabelle had one of those wouldn’t-it-be-fun-if-we-opened-a-shop conversations. I’m sure you know the kind… gushing comments like ‘we could work for ourselves and do whatever we want!’, ‘we could play any music that takes our fancy all day long!’, ‘we could buy everything that we love for our store and get to play with the coolest products around!’. Then they started planning it. You know, just for fun. And then, all of a sudden, they realised that this pipe dream was actually achievable, and if they were going to do it they should do it right away.

In October 2006 their little shop opened its doors, bringing in a host of lovely customers who have, over the last two years, also become their friends.

While their list of suppliers has grown over that time they have remained true to their aim of supporting small, independent designers from all over the world and offering the folk of Perth, Western Australia something unique.

After two years, and many phone orders from people around the globe wanting to get their hands on particular items, Claire and Isabelle thought it was time they made it easier for interstate and international shoppers, and busy locals, to buy their wares through an online store.

While starting as primarily a clothing store, with jewellery, bags and wallets and some other accessories on the side, as well as baby clothes, the sisters have slowly expanded their wares to include stationery, zines, other publications, scarves, sneakers and homewares.

Their love of Polaroid and instant photography meant that they became Polaroid stockists some years ago. Mainly as a way to have a steady supply of film for themselves and their friends! After Polaroid ceased production of many of the films, they picked up the Impossible brand films for those that just cannot do without. We still have some expired Polaroid film in stock, too!

This month, Ruck Rover are teaming up with Outré gallery for a special gocco print demonstration as part of Outskirts. To mark the occasion, they have printed a limited edition tee shirt featuring a design by Perth artist Creepy, who is part of a gocco print exhibition at Outré and also in Ruck Rover’s little art space, during late September / early October.

They are doing a special run of their own men’s tee shirts in time for Christmas, with some fun designs.

Facade Boutique

(We love what they’ve done with their website and we love that Rosie the owner’s dog visits the boutique!)

1. Have you always worked in fashion?

No!!  I lived and worked in Melbourne for 25 years and flew as air crew for Ansett for 23 years. Always had an interest in fashion and also exposed to fashion on my world travels.

2. How did Facade come about?

The business opportunity presented itself when I returned to Perth to live after being in the East.

3. What are the things you value most in your business? What makes Façade special?

My wonderful staff and our beautiful customers.  Façade is special as we form a personal relationship with our customers as personalised service is our priority.  Being a small business and all staff involved with the buying we have the opportunity in selecting specific garments and key pieces for our customers.

4. Who are your favourite designers/features in your stores?

Mela Purdie for our Travel Wear

Brax, Betty Barclay and Michelle – all labels from Germany

Frank Lyman who is a French Canadian designer

And of course we offer quite a few more labels in store

5. Any plans/events/projects coming up?

We have just had a Mela Purdie workshop but we do have our Annual Fashion Parade in April every year and all proceeds collected are donated to the Cancer Council of WA.

We have a Spring Market Day coming up in Old Theatre Lane and is being held on Saturday 8th October in Old Theatre Lane and all the shops are participating in some way.

Bluebird Vintage

(We love this Aladdin’s cave of vintage wonders.)

My partner Steven and I have been hunting and collecting for almost 10 years now, and we finally decided last year to hang up our shingle as Bluebird Vintage, purveyors of vintage goodness! We called the shop Bluebird because of my penchant for enamel bluebird jewellery, and it’s also a sailor tattoo to symbolise distance travelled .. which I like, seeing as we procure unique items from near and far.

My experience is predominantly antiques and collectables, but my love for vintage fashion has taken over the shop, so Bluebird has ended up an eclectic mix of pretty frocks, retro homewares, old world curios and pop culture kitsch. We don’t have a great deal of space, but I think the stock is really well-selected, with emphasis on sought after items like1950′s dresses, 1950′s Ray-Ban cat’s eye sunglasses, deco lucite bags and costume jewellery.

What I love about vintage clothing is not just the sustainability and recycling aspect, but the fun and romance attached to finding and adapting these one-of-a-kind gems to your wardrobe. It’s like the clothes themselves take a little trip, changing along the way with different owners. There’s such nostalgic charm in the tailoring, fabulous fabrics and also provenance of vintage clothing, from a delicate beaded 1930′s gown to a bedazzled denim 80′s playsuit. It’s awesome, and if the fashion industry’s current love affair with retro-styling is any indication, old is the new new!