Designer DETAIL - NancyBird

The power of the Accessory.

For Melbourne based designer and printmaker, Emily Wright of label Nancy Bird, it’s the little things that have a big impact. Footy players, sunsets, boats and boxers – Emily proves these everyday object are worthy of design attention.

Combining unique hand-printed fabrics with hand-stitched designer features, the NancyBird bags and wallets are rich with quality and detail.

Emily explains, “I was inspired by the idea of bringing art into a functional, everyday setting. And the idea of being a little bit subversive, but sneaking that in behind a beautiful object. So, my first ranges featured beautiful fabrics, with screen prints of boxers fighting and AFL footy players marking a ball...”

“Since then I have continued down the path of sourcing beautiful materials to work with, now it is more leather based with little details of printed fabric, and not so many boxers or footy players, but essentially it is still the same idea.”

The power of beautiful accessories.

True accessory lovers know that a must-have piece must stand on its own as a fashion piece, but must also put a new twist on every outfit you choose to team it with.

“Accessories are great as they need to work on their own as a complete, resolved object, but need to work with an outfit too. I love the way that objects change when placed in different contexts, and I love seeing the way that people interpret and use my things...” says Emily.

“My pieces are really sympathetic to this kind of customisation, and I think this is part of the appeal of my stuff- it feels like lots of different elements and influences have been pulled together, the unexpected is what seems to attract.”

Where did NancyBird come from?

“The name Nancybird comes from my uni days, with my old subject matter of footy players jumping, I used to compare them to ballet dancers, so the name nancyboy was bandied around for a while... Eventually nancybird was settled on, it is kind of a combination of nancyboy and dollybird, which was a 60's word for a stylish, forward thinking girl...”

The wallet wins.

If Emily had to pick a favourite piece from the current collection, it would be the Pearl Wallet. “It works for me because its my favourite combination of functional design, a leather/fabric mix, a funny little print of sailing boats and sunsets, the hand stitched border, and a style that has echoes of the past yet feels quite of the moment.”

What are you working on now?

The future is looking bright for Emily with the development of a new label. “I'm working on next winter's collection of NancyBird, and this summer's collection of my diffusion range called Mabel, which is a lower price point and mostly printed fabric bags with touches of leather trim - still quite lovely!”

For a complete list of stockists, check out Emily’s website www.nancybird.com