Lenko, Cathedral Arcade
Last year Third Drawer Down opened their first store, the Museum of Art Souvenirs, in Fitzroy, and since then it has (in my humble opinion) become one of Melbourne’s quintessential creative experiences.
There are many others too, including (as you may have gathered from my rapturous opening lines) Craft Victoria, which is by far the best store to view locally made goods and which I just can’t recommend enough.
Apart from Craft Victoria, there are only a handful of stores wholly dedicated to local artists. One, which opened in late July in the south-eastern suburb of Carnegie, is Little Shop of…, which is not only cute as a button but also highly affordable, with all the products priced under $50. Owner Bec Albinson aims to make quality local products accessible to everyone, and I must say she is doing a great job at it so far. Be sure to check out her range of jewellery while there, including her well-loved scrabble tile necklaces and brooches, which feature vintage and fairy-tale inspired pictures.
There are plenty of other stores selling handmade goods, and although they may stock some interstate or overseas labels most have a strong focus on things made locally. Kids in Berlin in North Melbourne and In the Woods in Northcote are two standouts, with wonderfully individual collections that cover jewellery, artworks, toys, accessories, and clothing (which doesn’t officially count as craft, but that’s ok).
Yet other stores have been started by designers as a way to sell their work alongside that of other like-minded makers. One of my favourite such places (and one of my all-time favourite shops) is Little Salon, which sells the adorable jewellery of Geneine Honey (under her brand name, love) and other amusing objects, including sew-it-yourself babushka dolls and fuzzy gnome money boxes.
Among love’s range of wooden, metal and acrylic pieces are windswept trees and spotted umbrellas, bicycles (with turning wheels), woodland creatures, birdhouses, donkeys and wonky Charlie Chaplins, and, most recently, cars towing their own caravans. I can’t get enough.
Feel free to disagree, but the gong for funniest shop in Melbourne would have to go to Lenko, a clothing/random-stuff boutique next to Alice Euphemia in Cathedral Arcade. Not many stores consistently make people laugh out loud but here it’s hard to keep it to yourself. Alongside some beautiful clothes (including owner Dana Lenko’s range and the wistful, pretty pieces from Limedrop) there are nonsensical poetry cards and monster finger puppets, mildly deranged stuffed toys and necklaces with your favourite G-rated swears (ass-face, swine, jerk). A colourful robot monster mural looks over you as you browse and makes sure things never get too serious.
They also stock the often hilarious t-shirts and bags of Chip Chop! by maker Hannah Chipkin, who sums up the ethos of her own brand and Lenko very nicely: “It’s all about meaningful nonsense,” she says. “If you don’t have something to say – say it well.”
Still, more places are acting as an inspiration for people doing their own craft. At Thread Den in North Melbourne you can hire sewing machines or take a class, browse vintage fabrics or buy locally made products from the in-house store. A favourite among aspiring crafters since it opened in 2007, there is no other place in Australia like it.
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