May 24, 2013
Emma Veiga-Malta, My Bespoke Chair
Bio The path that led her to this point
Drawing and painting have always been a part of my identity.
After finishing a Fashion/Textiles degree, I worked briefly in fashion PR and publishing in London before moving to Geneva, Switzerland in 1998.
But my talents lay with art and illustration not fashion design, so for 12 years I exhibited and sold my work throughout Europe.
I had 2 children between 2000-2002. My studio was at home so I was able to work around family life.
They have never known me any differently and love what I do - in fact, when my son was 6 weeks old, I had an exhibition organised.
I knew it would be too easy to use motherhood as an excuse not to follow my ambitions. So I didn't!
In 2010, my husband and I made the slightly crazy decision to ditch our safe Swiss life and move to Sydney. We needed a new adventure.
I immediately set up Bespoke Art, a small art and design company creating wall-art, custom fabrics and upholstery. I still run Bespoke Art.
The idea for My Bespoke Chair came when I realised that much of my income came from creating and selling unusually upholstered chairs for my clients.
I knew that technology and the internet could streamline this process.
I wanted to create a fun and intuitive online retail experience which challenged traditional design environments.
Why not put the power of design into the hands of the customer?
Q&A Insider advice & tips
What's been your greatest achievement to date?
When Vogue Living commissioned a custom fabric for a feature shoot. This is my best-selling fabric design; Marine Vogue, which is available on My Bespoke Chair.
What's been your biggest challenge so far?
Finding a web development team who a) understood the type of non-standard site I was aiming to build and b) were willing to take it on.
I approached a few key players and most were unsure about how to build and code the "point, click and spin 360 degrees" interactive design tool.
I found a small team in Sydney who were so madly enthusiastic about the concept that I instictively knew they were perfect for the job.
Best lesson you've learned along the way?
I thought I "needed" Photoshop, until I later learnt outsourcing was a better use of my time and money. There are so many fabulous and inexpensive online tools these days too.
Generally, I wish I'd applied this rule to everything when I started. Research, learn and pause before getting your purse out!
A website, book or resource that has helped you in your business or inspired you and why?
Following on from the above, Picmonkey is an excellent, intuitive tool for creating great graphics and images.
Seth Godin's legendary book Purple Cow - a marketing book about creating remarkable products in our saturated consumer world.
Which person or brand do you most admire and why?
The founding team from Shoes of Prey, who started their online shoe design studio as a bootstrapped start-up in Sydney back in 2009.
I have followed Michael Fox's business blog since 2010 and have watched them grow extraordinarily.
What advice would you give someone starting an independent business in your industry?
Be prepared to have your new business consume every waking (and often sleeping) moment of your life. It will bring you a never-ending cycle of incredible joy and pain, so you must totally love and believe in it. See what others are doing in your industry and engineer your product or service to be intrinsically better.
Finish this sentence
Everything changed for me when…
I got my first online order.
And then reading one of the first reviews of My Bespoke Chair on Facebook ("Totally addictive!") I felt as pleased as punch!
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