Have you peeped our Cali & Cosmo Collection?
These colourful and fun designs have been created in collaboration with the gorgeous Melita from @den___studios.
We caught up with Melita to chat all things family, business and design.
Sound like your thing? Let's get into it!
Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Den Studios?
I’m Melita, director and designer of textile design agency Den Studios which I started just over 18 months ago.
I’ve been with my husband Brent for 12 years! We moved to the NSW South Coast where Brent grew up from Wollongong when our eldest daughter Arley was 9 months old and never looked back! We recently moved into our dream home that we designed and built and just had our second beautiful girl Romy at the end of February this year.
I’ve been drawing since I was in school and always had a love for anything fashion and art. My parents had a small women’s label in the late 80’s. Dad would design & screen print the fabric, Mum would sew the garments and together they would sell their pieces at Byron markets, so I guess you could say textile design is in the genes.
In 2019 my good friend Charlotte - owner and designer of By Billie wanted to design a collection with a custom fabric print. Together we came up with her first print which had an incredible response, so we collaborated on a few more prints together over the following 12 months, and Den kind of evolved from there.
Tell us about the projects you're most proud of, what is your favourite design and what has been your favourite brand or business to work with?
I’ve had so much fun and made some incredible relationships with so many amazing brands!
I think last years womens range for By Billie was huge for Den. Seeing the range sell out in less than an hour several times over was such an incredible moment for both By Billie and myself.
I’ve also loved working with Krystal and the Chekoh team on the new clip carrier designs. I’ve been a Chekoh fan for years - both my girls have lived in Chekoh carriers as babies, so seeing my designs on the clip carriers was a massive deal for me. I’m so proud of both the designs, but I’ve been totally vibing the Cosmo print and get so many compliments when wearing it!
Where do you get inspiration for your work? Is it mostly client driven or do you have a lot of creative control on what you can produce?
I find each client and project is different. Some clients have a clear vision of what they want and how they want their design to look. A precise brief and mood board always helps nail the design relatively quickly, but I also really love a collaborative approach or when a client asks me to just go for it. I have an album of photos I’ve taken over the years of architecture, tiles, lines in the sand, plants, shadows, basically anything that I think will translate to a unique design. So when a client gives me creative control I go straight to that for inspo. I also go through my Pinterest boards or have a scroll through my saved Instagram folders.
I think most clients approach me to work with them because they’re drawn to my style of design so their ideas and vibe often align with mine making it easy to execute their vision.
What design trends are you loving at the moment?
I’m really into all the bold geo prints that are coming out, love those 60’s vibes! And checks are always a fav of mine too.
Name 1 tune that gets you through the work day?
Ohhh that’s such a hard one, music plays all day every day in our home! But at the moment, anything involving Kaytranada or Mick Jenkins always gets me in a good mood.
Congratulations on the recent arrival of your second gorgeous baby girl, how are you adjusting to the work/life balance?
Thank you! I’ve actually taken some time off to really soak up those newborn days with Rom and adjust to life with our two girls, so I’ve only just started to get back in to work again this past week. I’ve just been doing the occasional job whilst Romy sleeps on me in her carrier, so the transition so far has been pretty cruisey. Maybe come back to me in a few months time haha
Has babywearing been a help for you and little Romy?
I’ve worn Romy non-stop since she was born. We used both the Chekoh wrap and sling carriers in the early newborn days and now she’s getting bigger we have transitioned to the clip carrier. Babywearing for us means I can play with Arley, get things done around the house, work, go for beach walks and still get in those precious hours of baby cuddles! Rom is such a snuggly little babe so she always has her best naps when she’s in the carrier.
Shop Melita's designs here:
