ilias | Email | Website

Where and what did you study and what year did you graduate?
I undertook a Bachelor of Design (Fashion and Textile Design) at University of Technology Sydney.

Where did you head after university?
I carried plates by night and experimented with textiles non-stop by day working on the techniques that UTS lecturers were telling me were not possible and viable. I then freelanced for Cloth for two or three years. I also studied everything from textile printing, pattern drafting, draping and dyeing technology at TAFE.

When did you launch your own business?
Late 2003.

What motivated you to start your own business?
I began my business because I didn’t want to be caught up in the industry approach of being dictated to by trend forecasts. I also had the desire and instinct to develop my own aesthetic.

How would you describe your business to someone who didn’t know you?
My business is reconfiguring notions of wallpaper and textile design.

How would you describe the products you design to someone who hadn’t seen them?
Changeable, fresh, eclectic, identifiable, organic and techno merged together.

What are the most challenging parts of being a designer running a small business?
Keeping up with day to day running of a business.

What are the next steps for you?
I plan to establish greater links with manufacturers in Japan, Europe and the United Kingdom including collaborations. I also want to continue the braille project as a larger publishing and design project and venture into clothing.

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