By Kim Lancaster
As a young designer and commercial dressmaker, I was always drawn to colour and contrasts, style, and simple functional design. On the flip side, I was a quiet homebody with a glaring aversion to glitz and glamour, noise and hype, and ALL things catwalk. To this day, 20 (or so) years later, I shudder at the terror-filled days showing off my final submissions at the races. Ladies day at the Oakes: Fashions on the field made my blood run cold, and I’m still haunted with the memory of having to actually WEAR my creations on a catwalk. To be in front of crowds was one huge stumbling block for me, but the real issue…the one that very nearly took me out… was simply having to walk rhythmically, in time to music. MAJOR stress, haha!!
Truth be known, I never really developed that skill but thankfully, with age (plenty) and a whole lot more life experience (also plenty), I can actually look back and laugh with a decent dose of eye rolling. If only I knew then what actual hardship and stress felt like. I would have definitely savoured that moment.
It wasn’t until much later that I actually set my mind to creating Minimuds, after I had three boys of my own (which is a whole different story, but one that you’ll see glimpses of often in my musings), and a yearning to get back to a much simpler existence. I was studying early childhood education and working in a brand new integrated preschool/long daycare centre in Alpine Victoria, Australia. We were struggling with the combination of our High Country climate, a muddy outdoor play space which was yet to be properly established, and kids who were desperate to explore it.
