DAYLESFORD haberdasher Kerri Daniell has moved away from a life of stitching up business deals to return to the creative pursuits she treasured as a child.
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Decades of commercial roles in New Zealand, then Australia, ate up time Ms Daniell might have otherwise spent at her sewing machine, but she still had the passion for hand-crafting beautiful things
Ms Daniell’s new venture, The Haberdashery, in Daylesford’s historic Howe Street retail row, recreates a haberdashery retail space inspired by Europe in the late 1800s and early 20th century.
Cotton reels, buttons, rolls of high-quality European linens and other fine natural cloth and all manner of haberdashery are all sourced from local and more distant suppliers who are committed to sustainability and ethical manufacturing, with an emphasis on hand-made.
“There is a huge shift going on in the community – more and more people want to make their own things and to only buy quality,” Daniell says.
“And what we are doing to the planet makes it very important to me that I only deal in ethically and sustainability-produced products”.
Products come from as far afield as historical Parisian haberdashery suppliers to as close to home, including her pet sheep’s hand-spun wool.
Ms Daniell and partner Stuart Purves moved to the district seven years ago as weekenders to have space for their beloved dogs to romp. The district then slowly wooed her away from city life and she is now a reverse weekender, typically spending five days a week in Daylesford and two back in Melbourne.
Initially, Ms Daniell’s instinct had been to seek Melbourne shop premises but, by chance, one of her favourite spaces in Daylesford became available – a place she had haunted when it traded as Peonies and Picnics. The Howe Street shop fronts were the perfect reflection for what she was trying to achieve in being the complete opposite to mass production.
Beginners sewing, knitting and millinery workshops will be the next step for the new business.
The Haberdashery is open six days a week, 10am to 5pm (closed on Tuesdays).