FK chats to Vicki  from her Brisbane based accessories label, Marcello Neckwear.

Tell us about your menswear label, Marcello Neckwear.
Marcello Neckwear tailors ties and bowties out of modern, vintage and vintage inspired fabric. Cotton fabrics are carefully selected then crafted by hand with care and precision into ties of quality with classic style.

What is your background, and what was the motivation for starting your neckwear label?
Within my family I have a teddy bear artist, architect, dressmaker and furniture designer. No doubt this background has fuelled my desire to make. I was previously a design partner for a fashion accessory label in Melbourne and am a recent graduate in product design from QCA in Brisbane. I have a compulsion to create, and when faced with a pregnant pause (literally) I set myself down at grandma Vera’s 1960’s sewing machine and got sewing. The creative process evolved into neckwear when I noticed all the fella’s cruising around hand made markets and wondered how many people were making things for them.

What do you love about working with neckwear, and what inspires your work?
I love pretending to myself (and sometimes to others) that I am a little old tailor, hunting down beautiful fabrics and imagining the ties that it will become. Mainly I like the idea of guys getting around wearing bow ties. My work is inspired by great fabrics, crafts people, and vintage fashion and of course Marcello Mastroianni.

What’s the most exciting part about running your own business?
To be honest, I really get a buzz from talking to my customers at markets and on line via Etsy.  I love hearing the stories of where the ties are going of to and the lives that they will live. It is a pleasure to run a business that contributes to the total number of things of beauty in the world.

What inspires you in Brisbane?
There is a great creative community in Brisbane. BrisStyle – Brisbane’s own Etsy street team has provided me with a great forum in which to develop and test products. BrisStyle is also great network for meeting other craftspeople and discovering opportunities. Bleeding Heart is also an inspiring creative hub. It is a socially conscious shop/café/gallery/venue. Other inspiring places are Reverse Garbage, GOMA and the Woolloongabba Antique Centre (you should check out their tea pots, they’ll blow your mind)

What can we expect to see at the upcoming FK Brisbane markets?
You can expect lovely liberty print, dour hounds tooth, velvet bows and anything else I can get my hands on.

etsy.com/shop/marcelloneckwear