Sasha & Russell (KOSKELA)

Under the Australian made Koskela umbrella lives homewares with stories which extend onwards from the shelf and into your home. Owners Sasha Titchkosky and Russell Koskela talk us through craft as art, local production and their incredible Yuta Badayala project.

Tell us a little about your business?
Koskela is a furniture and homewares business that was established in 2000 and focuses on Australian made products. We have a 400 square metre New York style loft showroom in Surry Hills.

How did your journey start?
Russel and I met at a time when we both felt that we needed a new challenge. We both wanted to start our own business - become the puppeteer instead of the puppet in our lives. Russel had trained as an interior designer and always had a passion for furniture design. I had studied law and accounting but was working in communications and was shocked at how little furniture was being produced in Australia. So, somewhat naively perhaps, we started to develop our own range of furniture that is all manufactured here. Ten years later, our collection has grown and we are now working on developing some new ranges under the Koskela umbrella.

As you hope to be a launch pad for the best Australian craft and design, how do you go about sourcing your collections and products?
This is one of the hardest things to do. Our eyes are always on the lookout for new and interesting products. We go to markets, read magazines, shop, trawl the internet, get referred by other people and now, as our profile has grown, people approach us.

Can you share an example of a particularly special story behind one of the products in-store?
Where to start! There are so many great stories behind the products we stock. One of the product lines we love are the cushions and wall hangings made by Better World Arts. They are a collaboration between artists from the APY lands in central Australia and some traditional chain stitch weavers in Kashmir. Instead of using the usual licensing models, the artists commission the production of their images onto products owned by themselves, through their art centres. As well as the usual royalties, a healthy and independent sustainable business is now owned by the artists. The great thing about this is that it benefits two traditional communities, the artists that created the designs and the traditional Kashmiri handcrafters.

What have been your biggest challenges?
Manufacturing in Australia has been challenging at times. There were quite a few occasions when we first started that manufacturers told Russel to go to China to get a design made. We just kept slowly plugging away and eventually found some fantastic manufacturers to work with who are essential partners in our business.

What keeps you motivated?
Each other and an overwhelming passion for what we do and what we have created. I think we are probably at the most exciting time in our business now as we enter our tenth year. We now have a track record of great projects we have been involved in and, as we are now more established, we also have a lot more design freedom and ability to explore new areas than we have had before.

Who or what inspires you?
We have a motto for our business which embodies our philosophy about life – “follow your heart, trust your judgement and do it with joy”. This is what inspires us. What’s the key to keep our homes looking modern and fresh? I think a home needs to have soul. It should be a place that radiates warmth and personality. So I guess there are no hard and fast rules about this. A home should embody the spirit of its inhabitants – ‘be you’ is our advice, rather than try and emulate some display home.

Can you tell us a little about Yuta Badayala project?
Yuta Badayala (Yolngu for “new light”) has been in the pipeline for about three and a half years. We stumbled on the weaving by accident (or perhaps it was fate) and wondered if there was some way we could apply those beautiful traditional techniques to contemporary interior design products. The weaving uses primarily pandanus and bush string, which are made from plant materials collected by the artists. These are then dyed using roots and leaves. The whole process is extremely time intensive.

There were quite a few challenges in doing this. Unlike our other designs, we realised that the weavers would not be interested in making anything that required replication and that the labour intensive nature of the project meant that the products needed to reflect this in their pricing. We were also unsure about the cultural implications of doing something like this, but it was our hope that the project could eventuate into something that provided a stable and alternate income source for the weavers to further enhance their independence.

Finally after a lot of research and perseverance we managed to find a willing partner in Elcho Island Arts and, in particular, with the renowned Yolngu weaver, Mavis Ganambarr. We decided that the best way to approach these designs was to view them as being ‘art products’ in the sense that like an artwork, each one is unique. Our first product idea was to develop some lighting products. We supply a frame for the artists to weave on so we have some standardisation of form but the end product relies solely on the artists interpretation of this form. Each light is unique and it feels like Christmas when we get a delivery as we are always amazed how the artists interpret the form. Each light has two lives – one as a beautiful sculptural piece by day and the other when it is illuminated via the shadows which pattern the walls and ceilings of the room it inhabits.

Yuta Badayala is one of the most exciting and personally fulfilling aspects of our business and it has been extremely rewarding for us to see the project grow and to develop a relationship with the wonderful weavers at Elcho.

What’s Sydney’s best-kept secret (outside of your business)?
Iggy’s bread in Belgrave St Bronte – you will never taste better bread anywhere. Igor and his family transplanted themselves from the States where they have a very successful bakery to start out again in Australia. Igor wanted to show his family that money didn’t grow on trees.

More Details