Rachel Burke

Rachel Burke wears many hats…and tinsel jackets, pom pom bags and bejewelled boots! The clothing designer / stylist / photographer is basking in the spotlight as her wearable art pieces make headlines and take centre stage bedazzling the likes of Kesha. When West Elm, Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma hosted their Autumn/Winter launch at Newstead Studios recently, commissioning Rachel to style the event, we watched in awe as this craft crusader worked her magic and created a ‘tinstallation’ that had Instagram all aflutter.

We chatted to Rachel about her creative journey, her ‘pinch me’ career highlights and how on earth she makes it all work.

Tell us about your creative journey so far. Talk us through the baby steps and the major milestones.

Back in the day I was a university dropout working in retail, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life! I started a blog to try and give me some kind of purpose, creating self-devised dress making projects to raise money for charity. Eventually I worked my way up to doing a 365 dress-a-day challenge to raise money for the Starlight Foundation.

This project became a little popular, and gave me the confidence to try my hand at starting my own clothing label. From there I made some valuable connections and was offered a job at my main stockist at the time, Princess Polly. After working there for some time, I was approached by Universal Store to come on board and design for them.

Not content with a day job alone producing ‘on-trend’ garments for tweens, I ensured that I continued to develop my own aesthetic and wearable art practice outside of work hours. I would make all sorts of things and experiment with every medium I could find. I would photograph these pieces and style them into editorials, submitting the images to magazines… shocked when often they would be published. Eventually I was approached by Frankie Magazine to contribute fashion editorials to the mag – and this was a huge accomplishment for me. This had always been my favourite magazine, and so it was a total dream come true to produce so many editorials for them and work with their amazing team.

Going out on my own was always such a goal for me, so having achieved that (whilst still being able to afford coffee and snacks) is an absolute dream come true. I got a little stuck in the fast-fashion world for a while there, so it’s great to now be pursuing all my varied passions full time.

Your work is incredibly unique and varied (stylist, clothing designer, photographer, tinstallator!) – which part gives you the most satisfaction?

Whilst I love all the pies I have my fingers in (does that sounds strange?!) I think I will always be a garment designer at heart. There is nothing I love more than creating a fabulous outfit and the process of dragging an idea I dreamed up in my head into reality. Seeing other people wear my work is an absolute cherry on top…I hope the joy of seeing this never wears off!

This was still a side hustle for you until recently – how did you make the transition to full time hustler? What advice do you have for other creatives on a similar path?

I resigned from my position as Senior Womenswear Designer at Universal Store in February this year after working there for 5 years. I was juggling everything for a long time prior, but the success of launching my own online store last year (selling all my tinsel wearables), meant that I was finally able to feel truly secure to go out on my own.

My advice to other creatives on a similar road, is to go out there and create your own opportunities! If you are a little cautious like me, don’t be afraid to launch your project or idea whilst holding down a solid day job. Having a day job meant that the pressure wasn’t all on my creativity to bring home the bacon. Instead, it meant that I could focus on just being innovative and creating things that I truly loved.

Biggest “pinch me” career moment?

Oh gosh, I have been very lucky to have had a few over the last year! Giving a Tedx talk was a real highlight, as was seeing the proofs for the cover of my first craft book!

You’ve been getting amazing press coverage lately and everyone seems to know your work. How have you tackled marketing and promotion of your business?

In terms of press coverage, it may sound simple, but I really just try to reply to media enquiries quickly and enthusiastically. Obviously, instagram has been such a wonderful tool for me to get my work out there and be noticed by media outlets – who are always looking to feature engaging content.

I am now in a lucky position to no longer have to seek out these opportunities, however in the early days I would definitely send my lookbooks and images of my work out to websites, blogs, or magazines I wanted to be featured in. My technique was always to be brief and to the point in emails, and to only approach media that made sense for my work.

What’s your key to productivity day in, day out?

I get up, have a coffee and get. to. work. I try to stay motivated by looking ahead at exciting projects and thinking about all the possibilities that can exist if I just work hard.

Work life balance or blend? And how?

It’s definitely a work/life blend for me. My work really is such a massive part of my life, and because I love doing it so much…I don’t want to stop working at it…even at 11pm! I still think it is important to mark out times to re-charge and have a holiday. I have gotten better at making time for this.

If you could work or collaborate with any person, product, business – who and why?

I would love to collaborate with Petra Collins. She has such a beautiful aesthetic and a way of bringing such a unique point of view to whatever she creates. I think we could make some real magic together.

What’s in the pipeline for you and where might we see you work popping up next?

I have a busy few months ahead! I’ll be resuming my role as Craft Captain at Splendour in The Grass with my pal Patience Hodgson in July, and will also be doing a residency with ACMI as part of their WONDERLAND exhibition in Melbourne. In September I am launching my first craft book ‘Be Dazzling’ and hope to have launched my own tinsel-making-studio by the end of the year!