Interview with textile designer Kambamboo
Kambamboo is a beautiful collection of sustainable textiles and wares from the creative husband and wife duo, Bec and Cameron Duff. Living on the northern New South Wales coast in Byron Bay, the pair were inspired by nature and the thriving arts and craft scene there.
Bec and Cam are each very talented in their own professions and between the two, have a vibrant mixture of artistic, design, illustration and photography skills. The overall design, sourcing and printing of their range is very much a creative collaboration. However, individual pieces definitely allow each to make their mark on the brand.
Bec’s process begins with gouache and paper. She also works closely with the sewing team and to develop the homewares and baby ranges.
Cam prefers to concentrate on the use of patterns and colours throughout. He also likes to run the online store and plan the product photography.
Their fabric is a blend of organic cotton and hemp; and the designs are carefully screen printed by hand with water-based inks to ensure a environmentally thoughtful result.
Kambamboo are releasing their exciting new collection THIS weekend at Finders Keepers Brisbane. The collection will also be shown at Melbourne’s Design:Made:Trade and Life In Style events. If you can make it to any of these during July and August, you will get to preview and order the collection before it’s available online—which won’t be til the end of August.
See Kambamboo at…
Brisbane
Finders Keepers
7th-8th July 10am – 4pm
The Old Museum
Cnr Bowen Bridge Road & Gregory Terrace
Herston
Melbourne
DESIGN:MADE:TRADE
19th-20th July – Trade only
21st-22nd July – Open to the public
Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton, Melbourne
Kambamboo will be at Stand 40
Life Instyle
2nd-5th August – Trade only
Centenary Hall Precinct, Melbourne Showgrounds, Melbourne
Kambamboo will be at stand F16 (First Instyle area)
Also, pop over to their website, like their Facebook page, or follow on Pinterest for beautiful inspirations.
Describe a little background on why and how you got started…
Cam: Our backgrounds are in film production, photography, graphic design and printing, with training in fine arts and film. We share a love of the visual arts and the idea of art transcending our everyday through homewares and other creations that come directly from an artists hands.
We’re forever surrounded by inspiring colours, shapes, patterns and rhythms and Kambamboo was born out of a desire to bring all of our inspirations to life.
In a few words, describe yourself…
C: I’m a hard worker who likes to dream. I like making my dreams or ideas turn into something that is tangible.
B: I’m driven, happy, grateful. I still can’t believe that every day I get to wake up and work with my best friend in a creative world, surrounded by fabric and colours I love.
What are you spending your time on at the moment?
B: The launch of our newest collection which is inspired by the amazing landscape of Yosemite National Park in California. We were lucky enough to spend some time there last year for our Honeymoon. Lately we’ve also been preparing for some upcoming industry trade shows.
C: I’ve been playing around with some design ideas that are festive and yet still feel ok to have all year round in keeping with the idea of sustainable design.
Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?
C: The idea of getting into a creative space has always baffled me as I feel like I’m in that space all the time, even trapped there sometimes. When it comes to a creative process I try to treat this time with a lot of respect and allocate proper time for it.
I like to focus down on an idea in my head and see where it goes. Then after a break away I revisit things with fresh eyes.
B: I like deciding on our colourways early on when working on new prints as colour plays a huge role in forming my focus. After that I’m not really very structured when in comes to getting into a creative mindset although I do seem to work in large blocks of time. I can get a bit carried away in my own world and often do my best work in the very early hours of the morning after working all night.
What or who inspires you?
C: I get inspired by almost everything and everyone in my life. There is always something that leaves behind an inspiring idea with each encounter I have.
B: Being near the ocean and meeting people who dream and create and take really big chances.
What are you most proud of?
C: My wife.
B: The day we stopped talking about the idea of creating Kambamboo and just got onto actually making it happen. Oh, and my husband!
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
B: As a young child I loved dancing, making up plays and performing concerts with my sister on the coffee table (charging our parents 20 cents admission fee). At the time I thought this would naturally turn into a career.
C: Gandhi / Breakdancin’ Champion. I don’t know how the two could have worked together, but I guess there is still a little bit of both in me.
