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Ian Whybrowpb
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NZ Designers Including Ian Blackwell Sell Their Gifts At Toggle
Aspiring NZ Designers will be familiar with Ian Blackwell products and his reputation. Ian Blackwell was born in Te Awamutu, a farming city situated in the Waikato. Ian Blackwell's Ma and Dad were sharemilkers and they lived on farms in and around the Waikato until I was 8. In 1976 my elders took the brave move of turning their back on the farm and moved to Auckland in the hope there would be more opportunities for my sister and I.
I left college at the tender age of sixteen and started a Pattern Cutting and Footware Design tutelage for the Selby Shoe Company. A corporation that had built it's reputation on robust practical footware for the over 50's ladies set. As you can imagine, not so many top sellers were designed by myself. These were pre PC ( at Selby's anyway ) days and shoes were still being designed on mid size lasts wrapped in masking tape, with designs being drawn by pencil. Samples were all hand made and meetings ensued with sales staff to choose the seasons collection. How very" Project Runway! "
And just like project runway not everyone makes it. In the mid eighties Rogernomics hit city and "deregulation" was the new jargon word. The Footware and Clothing industries were one of the first to feel the effects. The Selby Shoe Company is now a block of residences in St Lukes ( Auckland ).
Get a trade son! Was my Dads advice, it's stood me in good stead. On completion of my Carpentry / Cabinet Making tutelage, I did what most young Kiwi's still do, go abroad and party like it's 1999.
Essentially 1999 was still in the future ( how old fashioned ), when I returned and in 1992 along with my best mate Jonathan Rugg started" The Wood & Box Company". We made glory boxes, wine racks, trays etc and sold them directly to the public through "The Great New Zealand Craft Show". Luckily we did not know about carbon footprints in those days. Ours was powerful big as we travelled from Whangarei to Invercargill doing 23 Homeshows and Craftshows a year!
As it turns out we did party in 1999 as that was the year we sold "The Wood & Box Company". Wretchedly it now only exists on Trademe, so if you want a preloved wine or CD rack look at it.
The better news is you can still buy my Ian Blackwell products. I have taken all my technical skills and experience from over the years to develop a range I'm actually happy with. I'm happily married and live with my other half, half a dog ( that's a different story ) and 2 pussies on Auckland's West Coast. Life is good. If you got this far thanks for your interest.
Where do we get our inspiration from?
Living in this part of the world you don't need to look far.... We try to infuse a piece of New Zealand into each piece we create. Using a blend of traditional and new woodworking methodologies we produce a variety of giftware that mixes the aesthetics of Aotearoa functionally and practically. We have the latest laser
Technology enabling us to produce quantity and quality either to your specs or ours.
Buy Ian Blackwell and other NZ Designers products at Toggle.