IGGY GOES POP: Iggy & Lou Lou: one artist, one website, one big success

• NAOMI HULBERT
• 23 January 2008
• Page 1 of 2 : single page

Photo credit: ANTHONY GEERNAERT

As a child, Melbourne-based sculptor Irene was given two porcelain figurines by a family friend, which she named Iggy and Lou Lou. In her imagination she filled them with magic and mysticism, inventing stories in which they would come alive at night and travel the world having amazing adventures. Today, Irene is creative director of boutique jewellery house Iggy & Lou Lou. She designs globally-admired handmade porcelain pieces that evoke time-worn mysteries and forgotten romance; seamlessly blending art and intrigue with business acumen. Oh, and she also travels the world, having amazing adventures.

Where did it all begin?

As far back as I can remember, I’ve been making things and selling them. I was that kid in the street who’d set up stalls outside their house to sell things. I even went through a phase of putting together exhibitions of my toys and charging the kids in the neighbourhood to see my displays.

While I was studying my Masters in Ceramics, I was also working with antique jewellery at an auction house in Melbourne, and I started to develop a new respect for jewellery as an intimate art form. I knew I needed to find a job that was creative but still gave me time to continue my fine-art practice.

I looked around and noticed there wasn’t any new porcelain jewellery being made, and the subject-matter of jewellery in general was very abstract rather than figurative. So the idea to create a porcelain jewellery collection emerged, centred on the artistic themes that I wanted to explore. I launched my first collection in 2003.

What’s Iggy & Lou Lou about?

My favourite thing about Iggy & Lou Lou jewellery is the romance of ceramics. I love combining the past with the present, and delving into history. That’s why I take the time to fire the pieces up to four times to get a patina like buried treasure, but then I like to pair that with a glossy glaze that makes the piece shiny and new.

People tend to really fall in love with the jewellery: they comment on the warmth, the imagery, the tactile elements and the seduction of the glossy surface. They wear the pieces like talismans and amulets that become their little personal treasures, which is really special to me.

"People wear the pieces like talismans that become their personal treasures”

What inspires you at work?

Good music and travel. I need to travel to see things in a fresh light: new cities, museums and galleries. Natural wonders inspire me too, little things, such as the way fungi grow.

In my studio, I keep a huge pin-board of all my favourite things, to help me get lost in another world. It just keeps changing and I don’t actually take the pictures down, I just pin on top of them. It’s quite nice sometimes to look underneath and think, ‘Oh yeah, I used to really love that.’

There’s a lot of inspiration and history just in that pin-board. My new studio is a big open space that’s well-lit with high, exposed beams. It’s like a little old miner’s cottage, by the sea, and it’s the perfect place for me to work.

How do you handle the old ‘art versus business’ problem?

I have a little book that I separate into jewellery ideas, art ideas, things I want to read, or music I want to listen to. Then when I start making pieces I want to make, or have ideas I want to explore, I can slot them into groups.

Obviously I have to be very structured to respond to the business orders that come in, but for each new collection, I always give myself some time to play with ideas and put them aside, then work out what I want to explore the most. With each collection, I’m trying to create another world to get lost in. I do have to play close attention to what’s going on, but I’m not overly influenced by market forces at the time.

How do you get strategic when you just want to be creative?

Each year, I sit down with someone and plan the next 12 months. It makes me feel sick because I hate the thought of it, but it’s so important. I write down everything that needs to be done: when I’m going to launch the new collections, when I’ll fit in time for exhibition work, all the practical things.

And the planning does make life so much easier. I know what work needs to be done, and in what priority. It also frees up my creative time so that I don’t feel I’m always doing

business. I know I have a set amount of time to do the creative and fun parts, which to me is what it’s all about.

I’ve also learned to delegate, and trust that the work will be done just right. My partner supports me in everything, and I have a small team of employees and contractors who help with accounts, administration, assembling, packaging, glazing, photography and the media.

How did you find your niche in the marketplace?

I made my first collection with samples, and then just rang the shops I liked and tried to make appointments to see them. It’s better to have photos of your work you can show people so they understand it before you go in with samples, but at the time, I didn’t even own a digital camera.

I’d just say, ‘It would be great if I could show you my samples really quickly, and if they’re no good, I’ll leave.’ That was the most terrifying part, setting up the interviews in places that at the time I even felt intimidated walking into. But I was lucky the first places I went to responded really well, so I only had to do a little bit of cold calling and then the rest of the stores contacted me as the word spread.

I started selling overseas through a partnership with an Australian fashion designer. They took the jewellery overseas with their collection, and it became apparent there was demand for it, which came as a bit of a shock to me. I somehow thought someone else on the other side of the world would be doing a similar thing.

My partner and I travelled overseas to check out the different markets, and to see our stuff in the stores. We looked at what other shops we would target, though the first few overseas shops found us through the internet.