the Geelong West go-to for unique, limited edition, local and hand-made goods

Quirk Collective opened its doors 10 years ago as an outlet for secondary school teacher Kate McLaren, who has a creative streak and a love of all things locally made, colourful and unique.

Today, Quirk Collective is the local go-to if you are looking for anything by little makers or indie designs in Geelong West.

“We celebrated our 10th birthday last Friday,” McLaren said.

“We opened in 2012 just before Christmas, in partnership with a little gallery and over the years we’ve stood out on our own and the gallery has also operated separately,”

McLaren said even as the store had grown, the vision had not changed.

Since the beginning, Quirk Collective has held to its ethos of ethical, sustainable, aesthetic and locally made products, with curated collections of Australian and local makers and indie designs.

“We’ve been quite lucky in that when we opened there was a specific focus and that was on small designers, primary local, Geelong people, Melbourne people,” McLaren said.

“We’ve had some international artists as well, but always with a really grassroots focus, people that were independent and things that are handmade.”

“We do have some big designers, Elk and Nancy bird and The Horse, but they’re grassroot companies, Australian start-ups, which is what we’re really passionate about.

The style at Quirk Collective, as the name suggests, is unique and unusual, although never lacking in creativity or aesthetics.

“It’s eclectic, we’re pretty colourful and we’re not into trends as much, luckily our tastes have aligned with trends, but I think our style as the name suggests is things that are a little different and things that are hard to find,” McLaren said.

The store itself is bright with a modern aesthetic, filled with equally colourful and unique gifts, with an emphasis on unique.

“Since moving into our current store, our shopfront now is twice as big, bright and colourful and a real mixed bag,” McLaren said.

“It’s layered, you really need to do a few laps of the store to see everything.”

At Quirk Collective, every item has been made by small run, limited edition or one-offs, often handmade, all by locals or unique small-scale artists with aligning philosophy.

Everything stocked in the store is small run, limited edition, or one-offs dreamed up and often handmade by locals, or artists who have a unique ethos.

Homewares from vases to mugs to incense holders and a kid’s section of toys, apparel and bedding all fit the cheerful and modern aesthetic.

Australian-made watches and jewellery and fragrances line the shelves and are available online.

Online, the store even has a ‘Geelong Design + Made’ section, all of which is available in store too, and stocks everything from candles, tea and stationery to artwork, clothes, and jewellery.

McLaren said each thing that is sold in the store is carefully chosen, with their vision in mind.

“It’s based on their story, whether they are something that’s unique and locally made, and difficult to source elsewhere.”

In many ways McLaren said the store still felt like a creative labour of love, and one that perfectly balanced her work as a full-time English and literature teacher.

“I used to sow and create handbags, and that was how the idea for quirk began, to sell my own process.

“It’s a big part of my identity, I talk about it as if it’s a second child, because it is a labour of love. I’m really lucky to be able to balance the work alongside my work as a secondary school teacher.

“[Teaching] is such an emotional profession so it’s been lovely to have something creative to spill off to outside of that.

“It’s a bit of creative release for me, really.

“I do find it hard, especially at this time of year to be juggling both, but I’ve been really lucky that I’ve got a very fantastic group of staff members that have been with me a really long time.”

To find out more or shop the collection online, head to quirkcollective.com.au.