Parlourpop! Hooray! October 26 2015

The Parlourpop collection is our colourful and confident new range of leather goods and jewellery. I must admit I have never been quite this excited about putting a collection out there into the world. 

I have taken a bold new trajectory with the leather goods to align them with the playful and unique aesthetic of our jewellery pieces. With an amazing new leather, which is soft yet robust, colourful yet classic, I've instilled plenty of character into the distinctive designs this season.

A highlight of the range are the collaborative pieces with Melbourne artist Belinda Marshall, whose dreamy pastel brushstrokes add bursts of colour and movement to the Ledger wallet and Jaffle bag.

I am so lucky to be working with manufacturers who are not only exceptional craftspeople but allow us to continue making our products in limited numbers, making them all the more special and noteworthy. Our bags are made in numbers not greater than 30, and just 40 of each purse is made.

Early in 2015 I was lucky enough to adventure through Bangkok, Hong Kong and Guangzhou (China). I found so much inspiration and so many amazing materials to bring home and incorporate into the Parlourpop jewellery collection, it has really been an amazing year and has left me so full of hope and happiness. I have love, love, loved assembling the Parlourpop collection, and judging by early feedback from stockists and market goers, I think I might be onto something pretty special.

Big love, Lauren. xx

An enormous weekend! November 25 2014

Wowee, what a doozie! Many hours planning went into pulling off the big double last weekend! With a three day stint in Adelaide at the ever-awesome Bowerbird Market accompanied by the brilliant one-day only MarkIt@FedSquare! Thank you so much to everyone who came along and took a little Oktoberdee out into the world with them, your support is ever-encouraging and always appreciated.

The Deckle necklace was a best-seller in Adelaide while the Spice Necklace range flew through the Atrium in Melbourne, which leaves me with plenty more'a makin' to do for the next events. Hooray for this weekend off to regroup and get prepped for what is shaping up to be another incredible event in THE BIG DESIGN MARKET. Now in its third year THE BIG DESIGN MARKET, has created an entirely new playing field and benchmark in the land of design markets. Despite the scale this event is so carefully and thoughtfully curated, the goodies on show so diverse and the crowds.....only one word WOW!  Along with making some new goodies to take along, this week I am super excited to be re-jigging my stand and display design to create a fitting backdrop for this seasons wares. I can't wait to show you!!

See you soon! Lauren xx

Homely Goodness Coming Soon October 21 2014

I am so thrilled to finally have this project underway, it has been on my to do list for such a long time. I first made some cushions about 11 years ago using some amazing vintage fabrics, but I have also always wanted to design some of my own too. This new addition to the Oktoberdee range has come along at the perfect time too, you may have noticed that the new Whisper range of bags and purses does not feature any external fabric elements, but I adore fabric, truly, and so this range has enabled me to incorporate some lovely fabrics and cool patterns into the Oktoberdee range.

I designed the patterns in this fabric on a bit of a whim, I had a little idea and thought to myself, perhaps this concept could work as a pattern, perhaps the pattern could be put onto fabric, perhaps the fabric could be turned into cushions....etc, and so on. So here they are, made entirely in Melbourne I am pleased to tell you. I am working with the super cool gals at Frankie and Swiss for the printing (on the deluxe Belgian Oatmeal Linen...so stunning!) and have met some really lovely new peeps who stitch them for me in Melbourne too. I'm not a massive fan of sewing if you hadn't already guessed, but it is nice to be outsourcing locally too, keeps to world turning so to speak.

These goodies will be available online this week!

Whisper SS15 Collection coming soon. August 20 2014

Yay, coming soon is my new summer collection of bag and purses. This season the colour palette is soft yet confident featuring blush, ash, coffee and black. The silhouettes are streamlined and simple, with enviable functionality. You might be happy to know that I have also revisited the coveted Boyscout bag, added some lush curves and detailing and aptly renamed her Girlscout. Although I have loved including the fabric element to the designs in seasons gone by, this season the detailing has been introduced by way of embossing techniques and top stitching.  These bags, made in gorgeous full leather, are bound to age beautifully.

Pre-orders will be taken in two weeks, with the range set to hit the stores by the end of September.

Post market wind up. July 31 2014

Hello!

Wow, did you come along to Finders Keepers in Melbourne last weekend?  Seriously it was insane, we were under the pump from the minute it opened to a few minutes after it closed, thank you so so much for coming along, whether for a browse or a special purchase. We had a gorgeous new display for the jewellery range at this market, custom made pine pieces from which the jewellery really shone.  This range would be one of the best selling jewellery collections I've done, and I started making and selling jewellery ten years ago, so that's no mean feat.

Lots of our leather goodies found new homes too, which is awesome, as I need to make room for some lovely new designs coming in around September. The new range features a stunning colour palette with peach, tan, ashy-beige and black. And the details are unusual with embossing and quilting featuring throughout the small yet splendid collection.

This is the time of year when our new collection finds its way into the stores too, so keep an eye out as we feature some of these retailers (new & existing) here on the blog.

Have an awesome week, Lauren xx

New stock hits the stores June 13 2014

This week some goods have been shipped out to some beautiful stores in Melbourne. Check out www.lulustore.com.au in Balaclava for an ace selection of our new jewellery and www.idreamahighway.com.au in Northcote for a refined selection of our new jewellery and a selection of our leather goods at special prices. 

Sydney Finders Keepers - One More Sleep June 05 2014

Only one more sleep! And would you believe I think I'm ready, well almost. Just have to pack my suitcases and I'll be off first thing in the morning. I am pretty excited for this event. The door prize for the event is from yours truly, and all it entails is following @oktoberdee on Instagram across the weekend et voila, you're in with a chance to win a beautiful Whistler bag in black leather valued at $365, woo!! I have also been busy making lots of goodies in special colours just for this event. And I've also put together some one off Hilda and Pippy bags, using vintage fabrics within their timber panels.

Yay, a new website! May 29 2014

Hello hello!

Welcome to our brand new website.  We hope you love the new store, designed to give you a beautiful and relaxing store experience.  
To coincide with the launch of the new store, we are launching our brand new jewellery collection, designed and made in Melbourne, as well as coinciding with the awesome sale on our Duskdream collection of bags and purses - woohoo!

If you have any feedback at all in relation to our new store or any of the products therein, please feel free to shout out to hello@oktoberdee.com.au Always lovely to hear from you, Lauren.