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We worked with
Beci Orpin on our b-day
book and how
2 play the guitar book before we’d ever even met. Everything
was done via email since Beci lives in
Australia. Lucky for us she recently visited New York and we had the opportunity
to chat face to face. Now we’re super crushed out on her! Read on
to learn more.
Tell us about Princess Tina.
I started Princess T by accident in May 2001. I was in an exhibition in
Sydney and
made hankies to sell at the show. The buyer from Colette came to the show
and
placed an order with me for the hankies. A little later I did a tee range
which is sold
locally. My second range I sold to shops in London, NY, New Zealand and
Tokyo. It's
still a very small thing, though, and that’s how I want to keep it.
It's what keeps me
sane amongst all the freelance work I do and if it turns into a big business
it will just
become too serious. I want it to stay fun! I am lucky to have an amazing
boyfriend
who does all the yuck bits for me (finance and production), which means
I can
indulge in just doing design and the good stuff.... I am pretty spoiled!
What’s Melbourne like?
I’m into Melbourne. It’s a small place but just big enough
to be an international city.
We have amazing fresh produce and food here. That is definitely one of
the best
things! It's also so easy to live here. You can afford a nice apartment
in a good part
of town without much stress. Good beaches are close, and there are loads
of cool
bars. There is also a good strong (but small) art thing going on and it's
easy to start
your own label or whatever if you like. People are really open and supportive
to
new things. There is a strong independent scene and you can see great local
bands
or DJ's every night.
We know you travel a lot. What are your fave places in New York? Los
Angeles? London? Tokyo?
New York: Central Park (can never get enough!), Chills store, Built by
Wendy,
Canal St jewelers, Pearl Paint, the Met. Los Angeles: organic supermarket
on Santa
Monica, Plastica store (stationery and cool stuff), Sporty LA (for trainers),
Pasadena
flea market, Swingers (burgers and scrambled tofu), Wacko soap plant. London:
Plastik People (excellent underground club), Paperchase (stationery galore),
Supra
Girls (lovely girls tees and clothes), Portobello Market, Slam City Skates,
Magma
Bookshop, VA museum. Tokyo: Irony store, Tokyu Hands (the best store in
the
world!), La Foret (endless cute jap fashion), Isetan department store (amazing
Marc Jacobs section), Parco bookstore, Uchu Hyakka (knick knacks galore
and cute
gallery), Kiddyland.
What are some of your favorite websites?
Not sure. I’m not much of a surfer... I generally use the net just
for getting quick info.
www.rinzen.com is
a cool group of designers from Australia. Their site is pretty
nice... fred flare rocks too!!
What music are you listening to these
days?
I have eclectic tastes and will listen to pretty much anything: Astrid
Gilberto, Ella
Fitzgerald, David Axelrod, friend's mix tapes, Rodney.P, Bob James, Patrice
Russian,
Theo Parish mix CD’s, Quasimoto, Slum Village, Shadow, reggae CDs
from Japan,
plus local heroes Mike Squires, Crackpot, Koolism, Avalanches, and my boyfriend
Raph's new EP.
03/2003 |
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