AskBronny Blog

I first met the highly versatile Sprinkle Magic in 1992 at the then known Maleny Folk Festival (now known as the Woodford Folk Festival). We were both going through our feral, punk stage – me with a shaved head and piercings and her with a stall selling her crazy hats – which coincidentally I was given as a birthday gift. Now much older and wiser, both of us have not only evolved into the mature, stylish and highly evolved women that we are today, but now I have my own fashion blog and Sprinkle now has her own unique label and boutique store, aptly named Sprinkle Emporium.

Coming from a family of tailors, Cossack dancers and cobblers, it seems obvious that fashion is in Sprinkle’s blood. And while she has never been to design school, and her sewing expertise comes from home economic classes, Sprinkle has defied the odds and forged a successful career for herself in the world of costume design and high class fashion.

But how does one go from being an amateur designer who works from their lounge room to a professional designer with a studio, label and a boutique? Well it doesn’t happen overnight!

After years of hard work to get her designs in various boutiques around town like Queen, Sprinkle spent an additional 4 years as a tenant the Brunswick Business Incubator, under the guise of a new and emerging business. While there she not only received expert advice, services and support to help her grow and develop her business so that it could become established and profitable, but she was also given the opportunity to define her target market and position herself correctly in the competitive world of fashion.

She obviously did something right because Sprinkle Emporium officially opened its doors to the public in 2007 and since then she has gone from strength to strength. Not only has she received a grant from the Textile Clothing and Footwear Small Business Program to assist with the smooth running of the business, but last year she won the ‘Business of the Year’ ‘Fashion’ and ‘New Business’ sections in the Moreland Leader Business Achievement Awards.

So what kind of fashion does Sprinkle create you ask? Well in a nutshell, stunning dresses, skirts, pants and tops with a classic 30’s and 40’s feel that ‘real women’ can wear. Her garments are not only designed to flatter an hourglass figure but are made with beautiful fabrics that sit perfectly on a size 8 – 18 body. And best of all she is another designer who has all of her clothing made right here in Melbourne.

Her boutique now also houses an eclectic array of local and interstate made accessories ranging from hand made silver jewellery, Swarovski crystal rings, resin necklaces, and cut out brooches to corsages, fascinators, shoe clips and handbags.

And on a final note, her summer collection is a must see for anyone who loves tailored, well made clothing. Not only is the theme for this collection ‘Birds of Paradise’, but she has the most exquisite hand drawn images of a peacock and butterflies printed onto several of her garments – courtesy of artist and textile designer Timothy Growcott.

So do yourself a favour and get down to Sprinkle Emporium, even if it just to see the red velvet wallpaper, custom metal fixtures, beautiful wood and metal counter or her collection of 1950’s cat statuettes, you will not be disappointed.

As one Sprinkle Emporium fan has written “This boutique is far from ordinary… it is the place where fashion melds with art!”

P.S Sprinkle’s up and coming winter collection is called ‘Sherlock meets Zsa Zsa’ and is a mix of plaids and leopard prints – sounds very exciting to me!

Sprinkle Emporium stocks the following labels:

Sprinkle Emporium is located at 108 Lygon St, East Brunswick PH: 03 93879262

www.sprinklemagic.com

info@sprinklemagic.com