To celebrate MURKANI turning 10 this year, we thought it was the perfect time to reflect on the past. Thank you for being a part of our journey and we can't wait to see what the future holds.

This year marked the beginning of MURKANI. The first designs were inspired by Moorish palaces from Morocco and were made in a small workshop in the hills outside of Ubud in Bali. We started to have some fun events at my house in Saigon. A big shout out to my supportive tribe of women who were with  me from the start… and of course helped pour the champagne! Security to the dance floor anyone…

Later on we launched into the WISH store in Thao Dien and hosted more fun parties.

We had a crazy year in 2013... we launched into first 10 stores at our first trade fair in Melbourne. We then launched our first website in August. Our first photoshoots were in many different location in Vietnam... from antique furniture warehouses and old houses to Indian style grand hotels. We also had our first events in Melbourne with the MURKANI team at my friend Mandy's house. 

We found our fabulous new jewellery workshop in Thailand! Lots of travel but worth it for beautifully made handcrafted pieces created with ethical labour.

I started designing collections inspired by historical design and figures such as the Desert Flower Collection inspired by the floral decorative patterns in the walls of the Agra Fort and the Mexicana Collection inspired by Frida Kahlo. I also delved into my personal collection of my grandmother’s art deco jewellery collection to create the Black Nights Collection which was then shot at the historical Ho Chi Minh Art Museum.

This year was filled with creating new pieces in our workshop in Thailand and trips to far flung countries to find inspiration, like to Morocco which inspired the Wanderlust Collection. 

We showed at the Tranoi Fashion Fair in Paris at the Louvre Exhibition Centre. Pinch me moment entering the Louvre from underneath where all the artworks arrive. But the best part for me was being joined by my gorgeous friends who flew in from different parts of the world to help me on the stand. Was a crazy fun week!

In early 2018, I went on a study tour to Cambodia to see the work that Hagar do there in the anti-trafficking, anti-slavery and rehabilitation space. I went on to create our first collection to support Hagar’s work in Cambodia. The designs were based on the key pillars of Hagar’s work – freedom, protection and flourishing given the right conditions. Since then, we have raised over $50,000 for their Women’s program supporting Woman in Cambodia.

We made the big move back to Melbourne, Australia in July 2018 but before we started school with my kids, we went traveling up north to the outback for 3 months. This is where I designed the Terra collection based on the skies, the stars and the pearls of the Dampier Peninsular in the northern outback region from a tent near a beach. Fun days…

We had our first shoot back in Melbourne in a gorgeous Italianate villa in the countryside with our team later that year. 

In 2019, we launched Sahara and Temple Moon as well as expanded our Petites Ear scaping range. We were also very excited to move into our new office located in Armadale, Melbourne.

This year we were busy expanding our Freedom Collection, where we donate $5 from every pair of earrings and $10 from every necklace sold to Hagar Australia, helping disadvantaged women in Cambodia. We also launched Desert Flower and Hope. We exhibited at the trade fair in Sydney and this was our last trade fair before covid hit.

We collaborated with artist Octavia Tomyn on a beautiful collection called Sense, which features three different line drawings symbolizing Motherhood, Empowerment, and Love that have been etched into pendant necklaces, hoop earrings, and signet rings. Other collections released this year were Into the Light, Terra, and we expanded our Petites Ear scaping range.

We were thrilled to launch the Connected Collection, a collaboration which featured artworks created by Aboriginal Artist Daisy Hill that were reimagined by us into elevated pendant necklaces. This collection has allowed us to donate $12,440 so far to the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. The money went towards helping increase the number of scholarship opportunities at their partner schools to further elevate the lives of Indigenous students.

We saw some of our long-term projects come to life too, like the launch of our gorgeous new packaging, and redesigned our website. We had photoshoots at some beautiful locations like Tamarama Beach in Sydney and Rippon Lea Mansion in Melbourne. I also attended The Art of Living Well event where India Hicks wore MURKANI Jewellery (high excitement levels)!

      

This year has started with Halcyon’s launch, a collection of talismans for modern day women, which we love. We also moved into a new warehouse with so much more room for some new exciting projects we cannot wait to share.

We’re so excited that after 10 years we are still here, still creating new collections, stocked in over 140 stores in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam as well as shipping globally from Melbourne. Thank you for all of your support on this journey. It’s been a fun ride so far with hopefully lots of fun times ahead.