Christina aka @made590
Christina is the made590 boss lady around these parts and has been in the rag trade for almost 20 years. She is a screen printer by trade and started her fashion journey with mens tees she hand printed and sold at Sydney markets. In 2004 made590 opened it’s doors and Christina has been passionate about Australian made fashion and working with local makers since the very beginning. When Christina isn’t in the shop, she spends most of her time rushing around Sydney to our various makers chasing stock, printing mens t-shirts in her mums garage, writing endless lists and looking forward to holidays. She also enjoys spending time with her partner Paul (mrmade590) and their three kids Morrison, Patton and Peggy. Christina is passionate about her business, is inspired by beautiful prints and (coming from a big Italian family) loves eating! She is also hilarious, humble and leads the made590 team tirelessly (and sometimes tiredly too).
Your favourite style to wear at made590? Clementine Cardies and Sally Scallop Dresses.
Your favourite female icon? Ray Eames
What are three things you believe in?
I believe in Supporting Australian made fashion and Australian manufacturing.
I believe that nobody is better than one another, no matter the age, qualification or bank balance, we are all on an equal playing fields.
I believe if there’s a will there’s a way.
Paul aka @mrmade590
Paul has been a huge part of the made590 team from the very beginning and he actually found the made590 shop location almost 15 years ago! He runs the wholesale side of made590 as well as being full time dad to the three made590 kiddos. When he isn’t popping into the shop with Tessa the shop dog or packing orders from the made590 warehouse, he enjoys coaching baseball and rugby, spending time at the beach and dreaming of the next family holiday, but he is most likely to be found chasing after Peggy their three year old, or rushing their two boys to sport. He is also our go-to man for the mens tee designs and always has input when it comes to what makes the cut in our mens range. Paul definitely ends up with a certain amount of made590 “boy jobs” on his list every week and really does a bit of everything in the business, except for selling frocks which he says he just “isn’t cut out for”.
Your favourite style to wear from made590? Current favourite tee is the magpie.
Your favourite female icon? Evonne Goolagong.
What are three things you believe in?
I believe you should treat people as you’d like to be treated.
I believe nature should be the most important thing we concentrate on.
I believe in opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve.
Kelly aka @thestorybookrabbit
Kell is made590’s longest employee having worked in the made590 team for almost 12 years. She originally was introduced to the shop through her sister and their jewellery brand Made By White, which was stocked at made590 for over 7 years. She co-designs the made590 clothing with Christina, helps with production and writes a lot of the online content, particularly for all the made590 clothing styles. Outside of made590 Kell runs her own brand The Storybook Rabbit which sells laser cut brooches and jewellery which is mostly bunny-themed, and is inspired by her 11 year old house bunny Juno. She is also happiest when spending time with animals, eating sweet brunch at cute cafes, re-watching her favourite movies and spending time with her favourite people.
Your favourite style to wear at made590? Edie dress and Clementine Cardigans!
Your favourite female icon? Iris Apfel because she is perfect proof that “fashion fades, but style is eternal” and I also adore and relate to her appreciation of accessories making an outfit.
What are three things you believe in?
I believe in things happening for a reason.
I believe in positivity.
I believe that winter comes later every year and leaves far too quickly for me to wear all my coats.
Kirbee aka @kirbeelawler
Kirbee has worked at made590 for 7 years and is our in house fabric and graphic designer extraordinaire! If you’ve bought something with an amazing illustrated print from us, chances are Kirbee has had a hand in putting it together or creating it for us. When she isn’t working at made590 she works on her own brand making laser cut brooches, illustrating animals and making limited edition wearables, but she also enjoys dancing the night away, watching live music and spending time with her rescue bunny Primrose. Kirbee was a huge activist for starting our Every Body range and is always bouncing ideas around for future garments and prints. She also designs all our beautiful stationery, stickers and swing tags, as well as giving the best scratches to our resident made590 shop dog Tessa.
Your favourite style to wear at made590? Valentina Skirt
Your favourite female icon? Dolly Parton
What are three things you believe in?
I believe in creating a beautiful life, surrounding yourself with things that make you smile and doing things that make you happy! For me that is family and friends, animals, beautiful art/artifacts and music to dance the night away.
I believe in taking time to slow down, stopping completely and taking in the world around you. One of my favourite things to do is to stand among the trees and to stop because once you stop you notice so many small things going on in the world that you miss if you are in a hurry.
I believe in being unapologetically yourself.
Nat aka @tommiemag @nattystylist
Nat came to work with us here at Made590 4 years ago after having decided she could no longer keep on working as a fashion stylist in the commercial fashion space. She wanted to align herself with a brand whose way of producing fashion aligned with her values, after witnessing firsthand the amount of fashion waste and learning about the exploitative nature of large scale, mass produced fashion. Over the years Nat has spent most of her time working on the made590 website, but you may have seen her working the shop floor too, offering styling and outfit advice! And yes, pink is a neutral, ladies ; )
Nat is a bit of a problem solver around these parts, she’s the person people come to when they have questions about one of the various programs we use here at made590 to run both our online website or POS. You’ll find her computer open with different tabs to: VEND, Big Commerce, Eway, Magento, WordPress, Google, Youtube and who knows what else – on any given day! Over her four years here at Made590, she’s one of the few staff who have worked full time, but now works part-time to grow her own online multidisciplinary platform, tommie magazine – ’the destination for creative Women with a conscience’. When she’s not stuck on a computer she spends time with her rescue cat Putty, visiting the Sunday Organic produce market on Addison Rd in Marrickville, cooking new vegan recipes, admiring her colourful mismatched wardrobe and is forever dreaming of how to save the world and lead a life of service.
Your favourite style to wear at made590? The Sally scallop dress, the Clementine Cardigan and the Valentina skirt which has become a style I have on high rotation these days.
Your favourite female icon? There are so many great female icons – past and present – but if I had to choose, I’d say Oprah Winfrey. She is living proof that even through adversity you can rise above any situation to be the best version of yourself you can be – and that your past only builds resilience and strength and does define or dictate your future. She really is the ultimate icon and mentor for me as she not only offers space for people to share their individual stories – but she does so with such journalistic integrity. She has created a media mogul that not only is successful in the traditional sense, monetarily – but for me, more importantly, uses her position and status to do SO much good for the world. To me, she is the ultimate leader, breaking down stereotypes and social structures for WOC and all people more broadly. She is philanthropic, connected to consciousness and no one will ever make such a prolific impact like her.
What are three things you believe in?
I believe fashion is a powerful tool that communicates the political, societal and cultural elements of our society and that it really has the potential to be a force for good. And that personal style celebrates our individuality; clothes give us creative license to be unapologetically ourselves and dictate our own style narrative. And YES! Style, substance and sustainability can all co-exist – fashion is NOT frivolous!
I believe in the power of good quality storytelling and that is has the ability to teach us empathy, loving kindness – that it unites people and their struggles in ways that nothing else can. It teaches us connection, identity, imagination and play. It develops a curiosity and sensibility to our world at large.
I believe humans are capable of way more than we give ourselves permission or agency to achieve. We really have power to make positive change; using your voice is one of the most powerful things we can do. Instead of waiting for someone else to lead the way – allow your self to ‘be the change you wish to see in the world’ and channel your inner activist. Large scale change starts with YOU. Live your truth, because no one else can do you, like you do you!
Liza aka @the_feline_fanatic
Liza had been a long time made590 customer (for 8 years!) who we made part of the made590 family about three years ago. Basically whenever there was a cat print garment arrive at made590, Liza would rock up with a smile and buy up anything in a kitty theme. She is now our resident (self proclaimed) Crazy Cat Lady, and when she isn’t working at made590 helping you pick out the perfect outfit, modelling on our website or sneaking a cat garment into the change room with you, she hangs out with her three kitties Atticus, Sam and Benedict (you can follow their adventures @liza_and_the_rexes) and dresses in amazing kitty themed outfits every single day! She also enjoys an at-home career in cat wrangling, curates an incredible cat art collection and occasionally whips up a frock on the sewing machine in her spare time. She also has a very extensive range of kitty themed accessories and shoes, for those times when we happen to not have a cat print in stock at made590.
Your favourite style to wear at made590? Aggie Dress
Your favourite female icon? Ella Fitzgerald and Michelle Obama
What are three things you believe in?
I believe that cats are supreme beings.
I believe in practicing kindness and gratitude.
I believe life is short – be happy, do what you love, do it now and don’t waste time on unimportant things that you don’t!
Juliet aka Jules
Juliet is our resident in-house photographer, graphic designer, online order packer and a jill of all trades for our website. She’s worked at made590 for a year and is currently working on a range of new mens tee designs inspired by some of our favourite animals. When she’s not working at made590 you’ll find Jules working on her own freelance design projects, hanging out around the Inner West with family and friends, “walking” the Bay Run, swimming at some of Sydney glorious beaches, being an awesome mum (and taxi) to her two teenage boys and spending time with her adorable and very fluffy Dutch Barge Dog Riley. She is also part of the resident bunny lady crew and has a very cute bunny called Kit Kat, as well as a parrot called Cherry.
Your favourite style to wear at made590? Saski Dress
Your favourite female icon? I really admire Rosie Batty, Australian domestic violence campaigner and the 2015 Australian of the Year.
What are three things you believe in?
I believe in never burning your bridges.
I believe in treating others as you wish to be treated.
I believe in striving for happiness and not taking life too seriously.
Carla aka @cocreateagency
Carla has been a customer and friend to made590 pretty much since we opened and has always been a familiar face in the shop. We were so happy to adopt her into our made590 team last year, as she already had so much enthusiasm and knowledge of what we do here. Outside of made590 Carla is also an amazingly talented photographer specialising in weddings, portraits and events. Having grown up with family trips to the snow she loves snowboarding, makes a damn good tomato relish, and plays a mean game of netball. Carla might also hold one of the best collections of vintage made590 in the inner west, having always popped in over the years and adopted so many of our special pieces.
Bec aka @broochiebec
Bec had been a regular customer at made590 for a couple of years before she joined our team last year for a sea change from her social work career. She enjoys helping ladies pick out cute outfits in the shop and will soon have a very good excuse to wear her extensive wardrobe of made590 frocks as she is currently getting her licence to be a marriage celebrant (made590 wedding anyone?). Bec enjoys swimming, spending time with her beautiful friends, collecting brooches, learning to play piano and most importantly she LOVES her Tibetan terrier Molly who is also a made590 regular and seasoned demander of pats, belly scratches and treats. You might be lucky enough to catch Bec in store with one of her perfectly coordinated brooch and frock combos if you pay us a visit!
Your favourite style to wear from made590? Immy Dress closely followed by her sister Imogen.
Your favourite female icon? Mae West because she is so bolshy, not overly beautiful but was stylish and loved beautiful blingy things.
What are three things you believe in?
I believe in kindness.
I believe in social justice.
I believe in myself!
Zoe aka @prettypickings
Zoe has been a customer at made590 from the very beginning and has just started working in the shop, so you might see her fresh new face (which feels very familiar to us as she was a customer for so long before working here) in the shop on your next visit. Being a trained primary school teacher she also threw her hand at teaching in the inner west before she took a break from that profession. When Zoe isn’t at made590, she works on her own brand of hand sewn kids clothing called Pretty Pickings which she has built up over the last 12 years, incorporating her love of vintage fabric, sewing and creating beautiful things. Zoe and her hubby share a great love of live music and love seeing gigs together, but when she’s at home with her four kids she loves entertaining and cooking up a storm for friends!
Your favourite style to wear from made590? Patsy is my go-to skirt, Petra pinafore in mod spots is my newest favourite piece!
Your favourite female icon? Sylvia Earle who began diving in her 20’s and still dives at 83, she has a true passion for saving the earths blue heart.
What are three things you believe in?
I believe looking after our environment and doing what you can, however big or small it ALL makes a difference.
I believe in shopping small and buying local when you can, you’ll get great stuff and the right people will be rewarded for it.
I believe in family. Love them, laugh with them and share as much time as you can with them.