DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: Mio Mio

Mio Mio is a Sydney based jewelry designer and owner of the Etsy online store - Headthisway. She creates beautiful, stylish, 'indie' pieces all of which are handmade and are works of art. Not to mention on of a kind! I had the pleasure to do a collaboration interview with her and learn about her style and design process.

"I have always loved fashion and jewelry. In particular I adore long dangle earrings. I soon realized that the longer they are the heavier they get, and they gave me headaches..." 

Mio Mio began creating at an early age. "The first ever thing that I remember creating was a dress for my doll when I was about 5 years old. My mother was too busy to give me needle and thread, so I used rubber bands to hold the dress together on the doll..." She said. 

Now days, instead of rubber bands Mio Mio takes inspiration from history and nature, as well as cultural and traditional pieces from different ethic back grounds. "Nature, of course is the ultimate source for inspiration and I think that is true for a lot of artists and makers of all kinds. I like to interpret nature and its many patterns in realistic as well as abstract ways." 

Origami Flower Dangle Earrings: Pretty in pink. Absolutely stunning. 

Tropical Blossom Earrings: Look at the detail! It's so intricate and pretty. 

Her design process is methodical and quite visually and tactile based. She starts by collecting a gallery of images for inspiration. From that she starts to draw make sketches, before experimenting with prototypes. After finalising a basic design Mio Mio then creates the piece.  "When I am happy with the result I will attempt to make the actual design. Sometimes I change my idea during the process of creating. I also like to make many variations on a theme and not just complete a design and move onto something entirely new."

Nimble fingers make fancy work

In future Mio Mio hopes to continue on designing beautiful, intricate fabric creations. "I just want to be able to keep doing what I love doing without having to make compromises when it comes to the creative process. I will not want to do huge amounts of the same type of design just because it sells."

To discover more of Mio Mio's designs find her here. Make sure to follow her on Etsy and check out her works!

LC