[youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=gekjrnFYvqU[\/youtube]<\/p>\n
Check out Mallory talking about her experience winning Curtin\u2019s Fashion Tank competition and about her experiencing learning from Professor Choo.<\/em><\/p>\n A creative heritage<\/strong><\/p>\n Born in Nigeria to an African father and Indian mother, Mallory moved to Australia at the age of eight. It was here that the future designer discovered her creative side.<\/p>\n \u201cMy parents had always wanted me to be a doctor or teacher or lawyer, but when I got to Australia I caught the creative bug and it took over,\u201d she confesses. \u201cMy grandmother had owned a clothing store with her son [Mallory\u2019s uncle] back in India, and it was definitely her influence that got me into fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n Under her grandmother\u2019s tutelage, Mallory learned to sew \u2013 at first by hand and later on her grandmother\u2019s old sewing machine. At high school she took formal sewing classes and from there, completed her diploma in fashion at Challenger TAFE.<\/p>\n Though her technical skills by this time were strong, her mother\u2019s insistence on having a university degree drove Mallory to enrol in the Fashion course at Curtin.<\/p>\n [youtube]https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Sj9QYek9w0s[\/youtube]<\/p>\n Hear about Mallory\u2019s experience at Curtin and the conceptual side of fashion design.<\/em><\/p>\n Weaving her way forward<\/strong><\/p>\n It was at Curtin that she discovered her passion for knitted wear.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been knitting forever \u2013 but I can\u2019t remember where or when I learned how,\u201d she muses. \u201cI\u2019ve just kind of always known, which is strange to say \u2026 it\u2019s like a super power!\u201d<\/p>\n Perhaps this super power is rooted in her formative years in Nigeria. Although she confesses to remember little of her time there, she holds a strong memory of braiding hair with friends. It seems a small leap to connect this childhood pastime with the designer\u2019s newfound fascination with chunky textiles and knitting.<\/p>\n This fascination even led Mallory to develop a prototype for a knitted shoe \u2013 a piece she included in her winning Fashion Tank showcase and one she took with her to Malaysia as part of a collection of her work to workshop with Professor Choo.<\/p>\n Mallory recalls discussing the piece, knitted with rope, with Professor Choo: \u201cHe was looking at it and thinking oh this is an interesting design and an interesting texture and textile. And so he put it on his foot and I just thought \u2013 Jimmy Choo is trying on one of my shoes! I have<\/em> to take a photo of this!\u201d<\/p>\n If the shoe fits: Professor Choo trying on one of Mallory\u2019s designs<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re keen to try your own pair of Mallory\u2019s knitted shoes, however, you may have to wait. Although her newly launched MKO label will feature knitted accessories such as bags, a final shoe design has yet to make it into the collection.<\/p>\n \u201cI love designing shoes, I just need to learn how to make them better! Although Professor Choo liked the texture, he thought it was a bit too heavy because it was knitted with rope, and suggested finding a lighter textile \u2013 but something that still produces the same texture,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut shoes are definitely something that I hope will make up part of my future collections.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, Mallory is focusing her efforts on a mini-collection through her MKO label, using the manufacturing and production contacts she made in Malaysia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mentorship pushed me to actually start what I want to start,\u201d she says. \u201cI think Professor Choo\u2019s relationship with Curtin [as an Adjunct Professor for the University] is pretty special, and definitely provided me with an opportunity that wouldn\u2019t have existed otherwise. I\u2019m incredibly grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From front row seats at fashion shows to meet-and-greets with designers, Mallory Maduka-Ike tells all about her year-long mentorship with fashion icon Professor Jimmy Choo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":5686,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-5685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-and-global-community"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":false,"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":false},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/mallory2Webedit-1000x500.jpg","author_meta":{"first_name":"Yvette","last_name":"Tulloch","display_name":"Yvette Tulloch"},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-20 16:54:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5685"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=5685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Jimmy](\"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Jimmy-Choo-trying-on-a-knitted-rope-shoe-designed-by-Mallory-Maduka-Ike-1-e1469601140532-437x420.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n