“A dreamer to some, a storyteller to myself. I have a story to tell, so please join me on this journey. With each creative mind, their art comes to life in various forms, mine is through wearable art. It has always been my organic instinct in evoking emotion and illustrating my own deep (sometimes complex) emotions through the clothes I design.”

In 2012 I launched my label, Micky In The Van. I finally returned to my fashion design roots after a twenty year hiatus and the reason for my return? To be quite frank, I was disappointed by what I was seeing come out of Australia by local designers who were calling themselves designers yet their fundamental knowledge of garment construction and textiles was… hmm, how can I put it… juvenile! There’s more to just designing a pretty little dress!

“To be able to design from the heart which translates into my pieces making my work poetic, rhythmical and evocative, now that’s the magic of my craft.”

I owned The Estelle Store at this time and realised the only way I could honour my integrity and respect my clients would be to design pieces myself to sell in my store (which prided itself in championing beautiful, locally made products) so I created Micky In The Van: a label that has a story to tell, my story, my team’s story and the wearer’s story.

When I look back at past moments on my timeline I’ve come to realise how these serendipitous moments are some of the most significant ones, as was the dawn of Micky In The Van.

MITV is my expression, my spoken word, my journal.

“I live in a constant sense of wonder.”

A few facts about me:
– I’m a trained milliner where I worked as a milliner for 15 years which included working with London based milliner, Katherine Franklin-Adams
– I’m a fashion illustrator which is part of my working life and has given me incredible opportunities to do commissioned work for some esteemed humans and companies.
– I design my own fabric prints which are all printed locally in Melbourne.
– I only stand at 5’2”, I love eating spaghetti with butter and cheese, I can’t drive manual, I adore camellias, magnolias, jasmine and gardenias and finally, I am a mother to a son, Ace.

For further information please contact me via email. Email: Estelle.michaelides@gmail.com Images by Meagan Harding.