Dinosaur Designs for Toni Maticevski & Romance Was Born.

Romance Was Born Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs / Photo by Daniel Boud.

Our love for Australian lifestyle brand Dinosaur Designs is well documented. Recently, Louise Olsen has collaborated with two iconic Sydney fashion labels Romance Was Born & Toni Maticevski, and although we usually stay clear of fashion and/ or jewellery here on Yellowtrace, we couldn’t resist sharing with you the fruits of these exciting two collaborations.

Louise collaborated with Sydney fashion label Romance Was Born for their special salon presentation of Cooee Couture, marking the fashion house’s 10 year anniversary. Dinosaur Designs jewels were created in collaboration with Australian artist and designer Linda Jackson. ‘We have always loved Romance Was Born and Linda Jackson; we’ve been friends for many years now. I love that Linda, Anna and Luke have always worked in a very fearless way and are always true to their own vision. We all share a love for the Australian landscape and the beauty of its nature. It has been a very exciting adventure into Australian nature’ explains Olsen.

The collection comprises large, one of a kind, sculptural pieces, with each piece being handmade in the Dinosaur Designs studio.

Maticevski Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs.

Toni Maticevski collaborated with Louise Olsen for the second time to design an exclusive jewellery collection for Maticevski’s Fall15 Runway Collection for Australia’s Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in April 2015. Consisting of bold yet delicate sterling silver, copper and brass bracelets, chokers and earrings complemented with sculptural precious metal cuffs with clusters of pale pink, grey and blue resin spheres, the collection has been handmade in the Dinosaur Designs Sydney studio. This collaboration highlights the inventive nature of both the Maticevski and Dinosaur Designs brands, which continue to explore the relationship between art, design and fashion.

Read on for our little Q&A with the gorgeous Louise Olsen to find out more about these amazing collaborations.

See other projects from Dinosaur Designs on Yellowtrace.

Romance Was Born Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs / Photo by Lucas Dawson.

+ Tell us about these two collaborations. How did they come about?

Louise Olsen: Toni Maticevski, Romance Was Born and Jac & Jack are the three most current collaborations we’ve worked on. All good things start with friendship, respect and a shared vision and aesthetic.
All three companies approached us and the timing was right in each case. Stylist Mark Vassallo was working with Romance at the time and Jolyon Mason with Maticevski, both as creative directors for their shows – each was also a part of these collaborations.

Romance Was Born Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs.

Romance Was Born Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs / Photo by Lucas Dawson.

+ How do you go about establishing concept and an overall direction for your collaboration projects?

Louise Olsen: It all starts with a series of conversations, emails, and drawings – each collaborator is never the same. Everyone has his or her own work methods and that’s what’s really interesting. We learn so much from each other and play with different aesthetics and strive to create something beautiful and special out of each one. The direction comes from the story; for example at RWB, Luke Sales, Anna Plunkett and Linda Jackson were working on a collection about the Australian Bush called “Coogee Couture” and that informed the collaboration in terms of shape and colour. The same happened with Toni Maticevski; the creative direction is Toni’s story, from his collection. I love the challenge of working with another brief, another kind of beauty, to add another layer to already incredible stories.

Romance Was Born Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs / Photo by Lucas Dawson.

+ What is different about working on collaboration projects compared to your own collections?

Louise Olsen: There’s a very different push and pull of ideas. It’s like writing music – you create a different tune when you sing together and create a new song. I think designing and creating objects is very similar.

+ Any interesting/ funny/ quirky facts you could tell us about these collections or the process?

Louise Olsen: Working with Luke and Anna was really inspiring as they challenge everything. Suddenly a bowl or a plate has the possibility of becoming a piece of jewellery.
It’s great pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with Luke and Anna – they have a real exuberance about them. It was fun creating rainbow arms of bangles by placing them all the way up the model’s arms.

Maticevski Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs.

+ How do you characterise your own design sensibility and your aesthetic? And is there something that’s fundamental to Dinosaur Designs and it’s philosophy?

Louise Olsen: I think for my work there is a delicate nature and yet a sculptural boldness. Dinosaur Designs is so known for our resin work and sense of colour. We treat everything as a work of art and I think that shows in what we do. We came from art school, not a design school so there has always been very different point of view and approach to the way we design and work
Nature is a constant source of inspiration for me. We do everything in our power to reduce our environmental footprint as a business, such as minimising resource consumption and still being able to create pieces which people will love and cherish.

Maticevski Collaboration with Dinosaur Designs.