Wildflower Designs: Have You Seen This?

The beautiful work of Marian Smale first hit my radar several months ago when she opened an on-line shop on www.felt.co.nz. Soon after - as often happens in the NZ creative scene - we started crossing paths on Etsy and Facebook, and I was delighted to find that Marian was a fellow Hawkes Bay local.

Marian creates one of a kind garments using upcycled, vintage, handpainted and hand-dyed fabrics. Her range include skirts, tunics, belts, cuffs, and dresses. And to quote her - “Each piece is made with lots of love, enjoyment and attention to detail. It's important to me that it stands the test of time & wear.”

I was fascinated by the use of colour, texture and shape in Marian’s garments. She's an artist with a fantastic ability to create easy to wear, visually stunning pieces that appeal to a wide variety of people. This is evidenced by the number of times I see her work showcased in fellow Felter’s blogs, websites and Facebook pages!

This is a woman who truly loves fabric – and it shows! Attention to detail in every piece. She states that she’s “loved playing with cloth forever, and painting fabric often vies with sewing for first choice for the day… followed by my gardening fetish. Amongst my working chaos are lots of pre-loved treasures which I’ll work into a piece as often as I can”.

It’s important to mention that ‘Marian Smale’ the business, doesn’t stop at Marian. While she is the creative force, Csilla and Chloe work as part of the family team helping with admin, marketing and modelling.

I’ve been fortunate to meet all 3 of the lovely Marian Smale team as we now attend the same Hawkes Bay Handmade group. I can report that Marian is everything you expect her to be – warm, friendly, colourful and not just a little self-effacing(!), but willing to share her experience with us newer to creative business and all it entails.

I also have it on good authority that she has the ‘eye’ and can walk into an opshop and spot vintage linen from across the room.