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Spotlight on Kim Michaelides

Recently, Creative Director Kim Michaelides spoke with the lovely Catherine from whattowear.com.au, and gave some great insight into the life of a designer! Here’s a sneak peak of their chat!

“Ever wondered what it takes to design gorgeous handbags and build your passion into a successful brand? Well Kim Michaelides is exactly the person to get to know as she has done exactly that! Kim is the creative genius behind the incredibly distinctive brand Spencer and Rutherford. Her designs are sought after pieces that cross over the generational demographic unlike any other brand I know.
I caught up with Kim recently at the launch of her latest stunning collection, The Goddess her ego & A Love Song. We chatted about her mood board and how the collection is birthed out of it. Plus it was interesting to discover that she began this creative life out of a background in architecture. We joked that she’s still doing architecture but in a pretty handbag bent rather than buildings, still similar just a different scale of construction!

Now get to know Kim a little more as she answers the following questions.

“Stop, Drop & Give Me 20″

1. What is your earliest fashion memory? Around the age of ten making patchwork corduroy full skirts with ruffles around the bottom for myself, my sister and my mum to wear all together.
2. It is not fashionable but I love… my black sheepskin moccasins (around the house only of course). They are the only thing to keep your feet warm in Winter.
3. I am happiest when… I am with my children in the afternoon after school. We are having a snack and they are making me laugh with stories about their day.
4. When I was a child I… loved to sew. I even had a toy sewing machine that you had to wind the wheel. I made so many clothes for my dolls on that thing!
5. What would you accept for payment apart from money? Kisses.
6. My most treasured possession is? My photos – I take photos of everything!
7. I can’t live without… A soy mocha from Cacao on Fitzroy st, St Kilda in the morning.
8. I often wonder… what would have happened if I had become an artist like I wanted to when I was a teenager.
9. I’m always being asked… where I get my inspiration from.
10. When I was a child I wanted to… travel the world with a small scarf with all my belongings tied inside it onto the end of a stick over my shoulder. I’m not sure if it was a fashion statement, maybe I wanted to get away from my sister who liked to ‘borrow’ my stuff, or maybe it was about the romance.

For more from the ‘Spotlight on Kim Michaelides’ interview, visit: http://whattowear.byethost3.com/spotlight-on-kim-michaelides/

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Email entries to: reception@spencerandrutherford.com

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THE LONG AWAITED MINI-BREAK LUGGAGE COLLECTION FINALLY ARRIVES!

Our new Luggage Collection finally arrived in stores in March 2010,
much to the delight of Spencer & Rutherford devotees. Taking pride
of place in our stores, the new collection offers our customers a
stylish and glamorous excuse to plan an exotic vacation! Available
in three colour-ways, and in a huge range of shapes and sizes, there
is a piece to suit every traveller.

“It’s so good to finally see the pieces from this collection in the stores, it’s
been a long process getting them to this stage, what with developing the
fabric and coating, then working on the styles to make sure they were
absolutely perfect! And of course now that they’re ready to sell, I have my
partner telling me we need more pieces, (especially a Beauty Case,) to
add to the range! But with such a fabulous end result, it has definitely been
worth all the stress.”

Kim Michaelides – Creative Director

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AUTUMN/WINTER 2010 – ALL THAT GLITTERS

The 2010 Autumn/Winter Collection, entitled ‘All That Glitters’, was
released to the public in February and all of the pieces are now out
on the shelves and online. This collection is incredibly glamorous
and sophisticated, reminiscent of times gone by, of the pizzazz and
elegance of the 1920s.

“It was a fun collection to put together, inspired initially by one piece of
fabric that I found – the beautiful silk with embroidered peacock feathers
which appears on one of our new styles “Lisbeth”. The peacock feather
just reminded me of all that art deco glamour and from there went the
collection.”

Kim Michaelides – Creative Director

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INTRODUCING... OUR Chadstone Boutique

Our new boutique at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne
opened in November 2009 and has quickly become a hub of activity.
Chadstone Shopping Centre, known to Melbournians as the
‘Fashion Capital’ is always so vibrant and busy. The store has a
great energy about it, with glamorous and exciting product displays
and opulent interior design, (including a pretty pink mosaic wall
which has quickly becoming a talking point!)

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Into The Wilderness Season Launch

On July 30th Spencer & Rutherford devotees from across Victoria
came to Armadale to help launch the new Spring / Summer Season
Into the Wilderness

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Facebook Competition

Thank you to all our wonderful and glamorous Spencer & Rutherford
devotees who put pen to paper, (on our facebook wall) and told us
exactly why they love their Spencer & Rutherford girls so much!
Our winner was Alison Cawler, we think her entry summed up, just
perfectly, what it is to be a Spencer & Rutherford fan.

Alison Cawley’s Entry

I think it ranks as handbag abuse to ask me to choose a favourite.
BUT so long as Estelle and Colette cover their handbag ears, I can
confide in you that it's Peyton - Roll of the Dice.
Why? It's gorgeous, glamorous and wholly individual; but so are all S&R bags.
Maybe because it's the latest acquisition (I'm so shallow).
Or perhaps because it's my first Limited Edition (graduating to the hard stuff).
Or maybe because I bought it in The Shop, which is a far more glamorous
experience than online shopping.

Of course, if I won a Twiggy that would instantly become my new favourite ...

Our runner up was Alison McInerney, whose beautiful poem made us all smile

Alison McInerney’s Poem

My Louisa in Waltzing Rose,
Is the bag that I chose to dedicate this prose

In every important occasion she is their by my side,
You can see her in the photos - she's not one to hide!

The perfect shape, the perfect size;
A rare beauty in everyone’s eyes.

Louisa is a young lady numbered 15 of her 250 kin,
A perfect example, to me, of original sin.

She lives with the other girls in my S&R collection,
But Louisa is my firm favourite upon reflection.

My biggest wish for today, that needs to come true
Is to add Twiggy to my collection, in her Wishing Well hue.

Alison Crawley won the very last Twiggy – Wishing Well & Alison McInerey
got a gorgeous Mitzi card purse.

We also had to throw in an honourable mention to Cameron Adams, the only
male who entered, and wanted to win the bag for his wife: how sweet!

Cameron Adams’s entry

I'll be honest - I don't know a thing about handbags, because I'm male. Yet,
somehow, I've heard of Spencer and Rutherford, almost certainly because my
partner has raved about them at some point.

Relationships are constant work, and not in a bad way, but you know what
would make it a lot easier? A shiny new handbag. I'll provide the dinner and
the flowers. Do we have a deal?

Cameron won a $50 voucher for his wife.

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10th Anniversary Celebration

In March 2009 Spencer & Rutherford celebrated it’s 10th Anniversary
with a lavish event in St Kilda, which included a 10 year retrospective display of Kim Michaelides’ personal handbag collection.

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