Gliese 504’s designer Stella Cella on her work with Nique, and how it’s evolved from a Facebook comment to tie dyeing their stock | Episode 5

Stella Cella is the lead designer behind upcycling brand Gliese 504. Grown out of a desire to do things differently, the brand focuses on upcycling and renewing materials and garments that could otherwise be wasted, through modification and dyeing, as well as creating accessories from smaller scraps. Stella started the brand in 2017, initially experimenting with using preloved clothes and transforming them into new styles, which lead into an Etsy store and selling second hand pieces alongside their upcycled designs. After creating a range using men’s business shirts in 2019, Stella connected with Nique, whom she partnered with to design a small range of remade styles from their unsold or damaged stock. This became an ongoing relationship, and she still works with them in various capacities today.

Listen along to hear how her experiences in retail drove Stella to start doing this work, as well as how she first met Nique. She then shares more about this relationship, and how it evolved and progressed, as well as some insights into the financial side of her business. Finally, we talk about her studio set up and what success means to her and concludes with Stella’s key advice for others working in this space.

About the Research:

This podcast is part of my (Julia English’s) PhD research at RMIT University. Please note, engagement with this podcast (for example, reviews) will be included in the research. If you wish your engagement to be excluded, please email me (Julia.english@student.rmit.edu.au). Your engagement helps me understand whether sharing interviews in this way is helpful and assists my research in identifying if this knowledge is of value to the local industry. You can find more information on my Instagram including an FAQ section, as I am also using feedback through my social media channels.

My research is looking into how people like Stella are working together to do these types of projects, where waste is being remade into new things. The way that I am finding out more about these types of projects is through interviews, and that is what you are listening to on the podcast. As noted in the recording, these are edited to create a smooth sounding podcast and some parts of the interview may have been excluded if not suitable for public sharing, or if the interview was overly long.

This research project has had ethics approval through RMIT University (2021-24506-15223).

Links & Contact Info:

To shop Gliese 504: https://gliese504.myshopify.com/

Renique Renew Initiative: https://www.nique.com.au/pages/re-nique-renew

Keen to connect with me?

Instagram: _julia.english_

Email: Julia.english@student.rmit.edu.au

 

Credits:

Music by Frank Henry, with thanks.

This PhD research is funded by an Australian Research Training Program Scholarship.

 

Transcripts & Citation:

For access to both pdf and text files of transcripts, head over here: https://doi.org/10.25439/rmt.19361003

Please cite as:

English, Julia (2022): Gliese 504’s designer Stella Cella on her work with Nique, and how it’s evolved from a Facebook comment to tie dyeing their stock | Episode 5 | Seam Change Podcast. RMIT University. Media. https://doi.org/10.25439/rmt.19361003