Motorhead's Lemmy tried to get Kim Wilde drunk on vodka
Kim, 64, met the late heavy metal legend - who died from prostate cancer along with cardiac arrhythmia and congestive heart failure at the age of 70 in 2015 - at the start of her career and notorious boozer kept topping up her cup in a bid to get her tipsy.
However, Kim's chaperone dragged her away, although the pop icon considers Lemmy to have been an "absolute sweetheart".
Kim - who launched her pop career in 1981 at the age of 20 following the release of 'Kids in America' - explained to The Big Issue magazine: "I was very lucky. Both of the record companies that I worked for at the time got me travelling.
"When I was travelling, that's when I needed looking after. And they were always there. So, I was, sort of, chaperoned, I would say, very wisely and with a lot of fun.
"There was one time where I was in a dressing room with Lemmy from Motörhead, oh God. And he was trying to get me drunk on vodka. He poured it into a plastic cup so you couldn't see how much was in there.
"My chaperone, or the lady that works at the record company, Moira, she dragged me out.
"She wouldn't let me. But he was an absolute sweetheart really."
Kim insists the support of the team that was around her throughout her career has put her in a "really good" place in terms of finances.
The ''Never Trust a Stranger' hitmaker explained: "I'd tell my younger self you need to surround yourself as much as possible with people who you can trust.
"I would say, always trust your instincts about people who you're working with, and ask lots of questions.
"I was very fortunate in that I've always worked with people who I trust implicitly, and that has made a huge difference to the quality of my life, not just personally, but, you know, financially. It's given me a lot of security.
"I would say that on the whole, I've had a really positive experience, and it's put me in a really good place."
However, Kim - whose dad is the 50s and 60s pop legend Marty Wilde, 86 - had to deal with the "roller coaster effect" of her career, with the ups and downs causing her mental health to take a "battering" and her confidence to be "absolutely crushed".
The 1983 BRIT Award-winner for British Female Solo Artist admitted: "It's been a roller coaster of a career. When things are going really well, it's really great fun, and everyone's vibing and, yeah, you get to share that.
"And then, of course, as soon as that dips down, you can have some really tough times.
"I really had to get used to the roller coaster effect of my career.
"My mental health took a bit of a battering. Sometimes my confidence got absolutely crushed on many occasions. I really had to dig deep to rise above that and get on with life and figure out what was important for me."
And Kim believes the "negative aspects" of her music career were a "great gift".
She continued: "So all the chat about the negative aspects of my career now I realise was a great gift that I learned valuable lessons from."
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Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
What's worse than a broken bone? A playground that plays it too safe
James Bond creator Ian Fleming famously named one of his most notorious villains after the modernist architect Erno Goldfinger. For critics disdainful of Brutalist social housing, this was convenient casting. They saw the creators of these pared-back, concrete structures as criminally responsible for the social ills – and shredded elbows – that befell residents in housing projects such as Goldfinger's Balfron Tower in London and Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith's Park Hill Estate in Sheffield. 'Surrounding the Balfron Tower was this series of windswept concrete walkways and this quite weird concrete playground,' says Australian artist Simon Terrill, who had a residency in Balfron Tower. 'If you fall over you lose the skin off your knee or your elbow.' Yet, like many defenders of Brutalist architecture, Terrill recognised 'a distinction between the exterior, which was quite bleak, and the interior, which was completely amazing'. Working with British architecture collective Assemble, Terrill created the Brutalist Playground, an interactive installation series that recast three rough-textured concrete playgrounds in pastel-coloured foam. 'Remaking those objects at one-to-one scale in foam gives an opportunity to revisit those utopian ideas and reflect on our changing relationship with ideas of risk and agency and what play means,' says Terrill. Their foam version of Park Hill Estate's playground features in the latest incarnation of the international touring exhibition The Playground Project. Since 2013, the exhibition has travelled to eight countries, from the US to Russia and Ireland to Switzerland, adding regional examples with each incarnation. Travelling to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, it is showing at Incinerator Gallery in Aberfeldie, which is housed in a disused incinerator designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony in 1929. Curated by Swiss urban planner Gabriela Burkhalter, the exhibition is a fascinating social history incorporating early childhood development, psychology, architecture, urban planning, landscape design and art. The Incinerator's Jade Niklai commissioned local content including BoardGrove Architects for the exhibition design and a new exterior playground called Ringtales. Visitors wend in and out of the various colourful floors and stairwells of the building, which itself feels like a playground writ large. Burkhalter's playground story is essentially a response to industrialisation, urban migration and density pressures. Equally it pulses with an adrenaline rush of risk. The show peels back the layers of protective bubble wrap, revealing 19th-century qualms about potentially contaminated sand gardens – ironic given children worked in dangerous factories – to legitimate safety concerns over the so-called 'junk' or adventure playgrounds pioneered in Europe in the 1940s. Junk playgrounds contained loose elements – building and scrap materials, natural elements and tools – that kids controlled themselves, sharing and negotiating with each other. English landscape architect Marjory Allen, who imported them to Britain, the US and Japan, declared: 'Better a broken bone than a broken spirit.' This plucky ethos suited a postwar generation that grew up scampering over London bomb sites. The Blitz spirit transferred nicely to the relatively safe terrain of the junk/adventure playground. The adventure playground movement spawned regional examples worldwide. Well-loved local versions sprang up in St Kilda, Fitzroy and The Venny in Kensington. As The Venny's honorary principal, David Kutcher, explained in the first of a series of accompanying talks for the exhibition: 'The risk of any loss through physical injury is actually low. Children require exposure to setbacks, failures, shocks and stumbles in order to develop strength and self-reliance and resilience. The road to resilience is paved with risk.' As modernism took hold in the 1950s and '60s, industrialisation infiltrated the playground. Concrete was one response. Steel and plastics were another. For Burkhalter, the Swiss-designed modular play sculpture the Lozziwurm from 1972 is emblematic of the new industrial materials. It also prompts one of the key forms of socialisation – negotiating with others. There is no one way to travel through the worm. The idea is that kids sort it out. Loading Risk aversion reached its apotheosis in the 1970s in the US. 'It made sense at the beginning because playgrounds were so badly maintained that there were a lot of accidents,' says Burkhalter. Today, while all manner of regulations govern community facilities, there is also recognition that safety needn't hamper creative play and risk-taking. Risk is built into artist Mike Hewson's controversial Southbank playground Rocks on Wheels. Its ad hoc charm – part Heath Robinson, part Wile E. Coyote – looks set to detonate at any time. Its teetery quality encourages risk and creativity as the playground itself looks like it's been built by a child. Artists feature prominently in the exhibition. Burkhalter's initial interest in playgrounds was inspired by the heroic dedication of Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. For more than 30 years, from 1933 to 1966, Noguchi planned a range of playgrounds, from landscapes to sculptural equipment. Most went unrealised. He once recalled pitching his Play Mountain to Robert Moses, New York's imperious city planner, who 'just laughed his head off and more or less threw us out'. Among Burkhalter's own urban planning colleagues, the reaction to the playground project was almost as dismissive as Moses. 'Playgrounds were considered small and not very prestigious,' she says. And this despite the outsized influence of Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, who said that 'play is the work of childhood'. Burkhalter remained undaunted: 'I understood that the people who were active in these fields had visions about design, society, childhood. That fascinated me.' Terrill is one of three Australian artists who feature in the Melbourne show. Trawlwoolway multidisciplinary artist Edwina Green won the competition to design a First Nations playable public art sculpture. Her abstracted oyster honours the cultural significance of the Maribyrnong River and 'invites children to play, imagine, and connect with Country', she says. Artist Emily Floyd and designer Mary Featherston literally bring the politics of play and community cooperation to the table. The pair's Round Table includes a child-height table and chairs; each of its elements – day care, infant health, kindergarten – is a seat at the table. Indeed the exhibition highlights that playgrounds aren't just about children. Professor Mel Dodd, dean of art, design and architecture at Monash University, says: 'The health and wellbeing of families in smaller, increasingly denser environments relies on public places that you not only can safely bring your child to play, but also socialise yourself. Amenity of that nature is absolutely critical.' Playgrounds also offer citywide lessons. 'The design of the public realm can be playful for adults as well as children,' says Dodd. 'It's definitely the case that playfulness aids health and wellbeing. We need our public environments to look fantastic, to look exciting.'
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
What's worse than a broken bone? A playground that plays it too safe
James Bond creator Ian Fleming famously named one of his most notorious villains after the modernist architect Erno Goldfinger. For critics disdainful of Brutalist social housing, this was convenient casting. They saw the creators of these pared-back, concrete structures as criminally responsible for the social ills – and shredded elbows – that befell residents in housing projects such as Goldfinger's Balfron Tower in London and Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith's Park Hill Estate in Sheffield. 'Surrounding the Balfron Tower was this series of windswept concrete walkways and this quite weird concrete playground,' says Australian artist Simon Terrill, who had a residency in Balfron Tower. 'If you fall over you lose the skin off your knee or your elbow.' Yet, like many defenders of Brutalist architecture, Terrill recognised 'a distinction between the exterior, which was quite bleak, and the interior, which was completely amazing'. Working with British architecture collective Assemble, Terrill created the Brutalist Playground, an interactive installation series that recast three rough-textured concrete playgrounds in pastel-coloured foam. 'Remaking those objects at one-to-one scale in foam gives an opportunity to revisit those utopian ideas and reflect on our changing relationship with ideas of risk and agency and what play means,' says Terrill. Their foam version of Park Hill Estate's playground features in the latest incarnation of the international touring exhibition The Playground Project. Since 2013, the exhibition has travelled to eight countries, from the US to Russia and Ireland to Switzerland, adding regional examples with each incarnation. Travelling to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, it is showing at Incinerator Gallery in Aberfeldie, which is housed in a disused incinerator designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony in 1929. Curated by Swiss urban planner Gabriela Burkhalter, the exhibition is a fascinating social history incorporating early childhood development, psychology, architecture, urban planning, landscape design and art. The Incinerator's Jade Niklai commissioned local content including BoardGrove Architects for the exhibition design and a new exterior playground called Ringtales. Visitors wend in and out of the various colourful floors and stairwells of the building, which itself feels like a playground writ large. Burkhalter's playground story is essentially a response to industrialisation, urban migration and density pressures. Equally it pulses with an adrenaline rush of risk. The show peels back the layers of protective bubble wrap, revealing 19th-century qualms about potentially contaminated sand gardens – ironic given children worked in dangerous factories – to legitimate safety concerns over the so-called 'junk' or adventure playgrounds pioneered in Europe in the 1940s. Junk playgrounds contained loose elements – building and scrap materials, natural elements and tools – that kids controlled themselves, sharing and negotiating with each other. English landscape architect Marjory Allen, who imported them to Britain, the US and Japan, declared: 'Better a broken bone than a broken spirit.' This plucky ethos suited a postwar generation that grew up scampering over London bomb sites. The Blitz spirit transferred nicely to the relatively safe terrain of the junk/adventure playground. The adventure playground movement spawned regional examples worldwide. Well-loved local versions sprang up in St Kilda, Fitzroy and The Venny in Kensington. As The Venny's honorary principal, David Kutcher, explained in the first of a series of accompanying talks for the exhibition: 'The risk of any loss through physical injury is actually low. Children require exposure to setbacks, failures, shocks and stumbles in order to develop strength and self-reliance and resilience. The road to resilience is paved with risk.' As modernism took hold in the 1950s and '60s, industrialisation infiltrated the playground. Concrete was one response. Steel and plastics were another. For Burkhalter, the Swiss-designed modular play sculpture the Lozziwurm from 1972 is emblematic of the new industrial materials. It also prompts one of the key forms of socialisation – negotiating with others. There is no one way to travel through the worm. The idea is that kids sort it out. Loading Risk aversion reached its apotheosis in the 1970s in the US. 'It made sense at the beginning because playgrounds were so badly maintained that there were a lot of accidents,' says Burkhalter. Today, while all manner of regulations govern community facilities, there is also recognition that safety needn't hamper creative play and risk-taking. Risk is built into artist Mike Hewson's controversial Southbank playground Rocks on Wheels. Its ad hoc charm – part Heath Robinson, part Wile E. Coyote – looks set to detonate at any time. Its teetery quality encourages risk and creativity as the playground itself looks like it's been built by a child. Artists feature prominently in the exhibition. Burkhalter's initial interest in playgrounds was inspired by the heroic dedication of Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. For more than 30 years, from 1933 to 1966, Noguchi planned a range of playgrounds, from landscapes to sculptural equipment. Most went unrealised. He once recalled pitching his Play Mountain to Robert Moses, New York's imperious city planner, who 'just laughed his head off and more or less threw us out'. Among Burkhalter's own urban planning colleagues, the reaction to the playground project was almost as dismissive as Moses. 'Playgrounds were considered small and not very prestigious,' she says. And this despite the outsized influence of Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, who said that 'play is the work of childhood'. Burkhalter remained undaunted: 'I understood that the people who were active in these fields had visions about design, society, childhood. That fascinated me.' Terrill is one of three Australian artists who feature in the Melbourne show. Trawlwoolway multidisciplinary artist Edwina Green won the competition to design a First Nations playable public art sculpture. Her abstracted oyster honours the cultural significance of the Maribyrnong River and 'invites children to play, imagine, and connect with Country', she says. Artist Emily Floyd and designer Mary Featherston literally bring the politics of play and community cooperation to the table. The pair's Round Table includes a child-height table and chairs; each of its elements – day care, infant health, kindergarten – is a seat at the table. Indeed the exhibition highlights that playgrounds aren't just about children. Professor Mel Dodd, dean of art, design and architecture at Monash University, says: 'The health and wellbeing of families in smaller, increasingly denser environments relies on public places that you not only can safely bring your child to play, but also socialise yourself. Amenity of that nature is absolutely critical.' Playgrounds also offer citywide lessons. 'The design of the public realm can be playful for adults as well as children,' says Dodd. 'It's definitely the case that playfulness aids health and wellbeing. We need our public environments to look fantastic, to look exciting.'
The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
She plays post-punk drums, and now she's taking punk-inspired knits to the world
For 10 years now, Kaylene Milner has worked with bands, artists, and other labels around Australia and the world to create playful, colourful jumpers and other knitted garments that amount to wearable art. Her brand, WAH-WAH, was born thanks to an idea she had "rumbling around in the back of [her] brain" to create knitted punk sweaters. "I just kind of love the idea of having that much care and attention put into a garment that pays tribute to punk music, the graphics, the posters that accompany it," Ms Milner from Helensburgh, north of Wollongong, said. "It had a really strong visual language. And yeah, it just kept evolving from there." The first partnership was with Sydney band the Hard-Ons, whose bassist, Ray Ahn, gave Ms Milner permission to adapt his artwork. While the partnerships have since expanded beyond punk music - other collaborators include First Nations clothing brand House of Darwin, Aboriginal artist Kaylene Whiskey, and British comedian and artist Noel Fielding - "honouring music, art, culture" remains at the heart of what WAH-WAH does. Recently, Ms Milner designed a jumper with the artwork Redback Graphix created for the 1982 Mary Callaghan film Greetings from Wollongong. The film gave its name to an exhibition now on at Wollongong Art Gallery, which Ms Milner also guest curated. While personal style was something she was interested in from a young age, Ms Milner didn't always dream of a career in fashion. After graduating from Smith's Hill High School in Wollongong she first studied psychology at university, then musicology. She could not see a long-term career in the latter, so she enrolled at TAFE NSW's Fashion Design Studio. Once she completed her course, Ms Milner undertook an internship with Diane von Furstenberg in New York. "It was great in the sense that it showed me what I didn't want to do ... I observed how fast the fashion world moves, and how unsustainable - and unsustainable also in terms of lifestyle," she said. "Like the designers were staying back till midnight, and it was a really eye-opening experience. There were great aspects to it, obviously, and it was really cool to see all the different facets of the industry and how much work goes into a big brand like that, but I came away thinking I never want to do that." She returned to Australia and started up her first label, producing high-end garments, but did not have the capital behind her to make it financially viable. However, the urge to create remained. The idea for WAH-WAH took root when Ms Milner read the book Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, and saw a photo of J Mascis from the band Dinosaur Jr wearing a hand-knitted jumper decorated with the logo of punk band Deep Wound. Punk has been a part of Ms Milner's life since she was young, and she herself plays drums in post-punk band Loose Fit. The name WAH-WAH is also nod to music; there's the music pedal by the same name, the song by George Harrison, and the song by Australian rock band (and WAH-WAH collaborator) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Ms Milner has collaborated with international bands too, including American indie rock icons Sonic Youth and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and her designs have reached audiences overseas with Noel Fielding wearing them while hosting The Great British Bake Off. This year delivered another highlight for WAH-WAH: showing as part of the We Wear Australian campaign at New York Fashion Week. Ms Milner was one of just 12 designers invited to take part. "That's the first time that I've been in a store with my garments and getting that direct feedback from customers [WAH-WAH is sold almost entirely online] and particularly customers who weren't familiar with the brand," she said. Environmental sustainability is a significant philosophy behind WAH-WAH, with most garments made of superfine merino wool and thought put into the environmental impacts of packaging. When Ms Milner first started producing clothing, she initially had only had access to yarn that was 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent nylon. While these garments were hard-wearing, the sustainable fashion writer Clare Press one day mentioned in conversation that the nylon component would stop the garments from being compostable and breaking down. "After that I was like, I really need to explore how to do it in the most sustainable way possible," Ms Milner said. When she had to find a new manufacturer, she thought it was time to focus on the fibres used. "I really like using merino wool because not only does it feel really beautiful to wear, it's breathable, it's a renewable fibre, naturally repels dirt and odour, and will eventually break down, unlike most garments which have some man-made synthetic fibres in them," Ms Milner said. Ms Milner has her eye on benefiting the community, too: profits or royalties from numerous WAH-WAH garments go towards various charitable causes (specialist homelessness service SAHSSI will benefit from the Greetings from Wollongong collaboration). Ms Milner mostly works from the Helensburgh home she shares with partner Max, son Levi, 3, and cavoodle puppy Bear. More collaborations are on the horizon, but they are in the early stages, so Ms Milner is reluctant to share too many details. Otherwise, she said, she was "trying really hard not to take on too much at the moment". "But I know that won't go to plan, so just creating space for opportunity to come up that I really want to explore." For 10 years now, Kaylene Milner has worked with bands, artists, and other labels around Australia and the world to create playful, colourful jumpers and other knitted garments that amount to wearable art. Her brand, WAH-WAH, was born thanks to an idea she had "rumbling around in the back of [her] brain" to create knitted punk sweaters. "I just kind of love the idea of having that much care and attention put into a garment that pays tribute to punk music, the graphics, the posters that accompany it," Ms Milner from Helensburgh, north of Wollongong, said. "It had a really strong visual language. And yeah, it just kept evolving from there." The first partnership was with Sydney band the Hard-Ons, whose bassist, Ray Ahn, gave Ms Milner permission to adapt his artwork. While the partnerships have since expanded beyond punk music - other collaborators include First Nations clothing brand House of Darwin, Aboriginal artist Kaylene Whiskey, and British comedian and artist Noel Fielding - "honouring music, art, culture" remains at the heart of what WAH-WAH does. Recently, Ms Milner designed a jumper with the artwork Redback Graphix created for the 1982 Mary Callaghan film Greetings from Wollongong. The film gave its name to an exhibition now on at Wollongong Art Gallery, which Ms Milner also guest curated. While personal style was something she was interested in from a young age, Ms Milner didn't always dream of a career in fashion. After graduating from Smith's Hill High School in Wollongong she first studied psychology at university, then musicology. She could not see a long-term career in the latter, so she enrolled at TAFE NSW's Fashion Design Studio. Once she completed her course, Ms Milner undertook an internship with Diane von Furstenberg in New York. "It was great in the sense that it showed me what I didn't want to do ... I observed how fast the fashion world moves, and how unsustainable - and unsustainable also in terms of lifestyle," she said. "Like the designers were staying back till midnight, and it was a really eye-opening experience. There were great aspects to it, obviously, and it was really cool to see all the different facets of the industry and how much work goes into a big brand like that, but I came away thinking I never want to do that." She returned to Australia and started up her first label, producing high-end garments, but did not have the capital behind her to make it financially viable. However, the urge to create remained. The idea for WAH-WAH took root when Ms Milner read the book Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, and saw a photo of J Mascis from the band Dinosaur Jr wearing a hand-knitted jumper decorated with the logo of punk band Deep Wound. Punk has been a part of Ms Milner's life since she was young, and she herself plays drums in post-punk band Loose Fit. The name WAH-WAH is also nod to music; there's the music pedal by the same name, the song by George Harrison, and the song by Australian rock band (and WAH-WAH collaborator) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Ms Milner has collaborated with international bands too, including American indie rock icons Sonic Youth and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and her designs have reached audiences overseas with Noel Fielding wearing them while hosting The Great British Bake Off. This year delivered another highlight for WAH-WAH: showing as part of the We Wear Australian campaign at New York Fashion Week. Ms Milner was one of just 12 designers invited to take part. "That's the first time that I've been in a store with my garments and getting that direct feedback from customers [WAH-WAH is sold almost entirely online] and particularly customers who weren't familiar with the brand," she said. Environmental sustainability is a significant philosophy behind WAH-WAH, with most garments made of superfine merino wool and thought put into the environmental impacts of packaging. When Ms Milner first started producing clothing, she initially had only had access to yarn that was 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent nylon. While these garments were hard-wearing, the sustainable fashion writer Clare Press one day mentioned in conversation that the nylon component would stop the garments from being compostable and breaking down. "After that I was like, I really need to explore how to do it in the most sustainable way possible," Ms Milner said. When she had to find a new manufacturer, she thought it was time to focus on the fibres used. "I really like using merino wool because not only does it feel really beautiful to wear, it's breathable, it's a renewable fibre, naturally repels dirt and odour, and will eventually break down, unlike most garments which have some man-made synthetic fibres in them," Ms Milner said. Ms Milner has her eye on benefiting the community, too: profits or royalties from numerous WAH-WAH garments go towards various charitable causes (specialist homelessness service SAHSSI will benefit from the Greetings from Wollongong collaboration). Ms Milner mostly works from the Helensburgh home she shares with partner Max, son Levi, 3, and cavoodle puppy Bear. More collaborations are on the horizon, but they are in the early stages, so Ms Milner is reluctant to share too many details. Otherwise, she said, she was "trying really hard not to take on too much at the moment". "But I know that won't go to plan, so just creating space for opportunity to come up that I really want to explore." For 10 years now, Kaylene Milner has worked with bands, artists, and other labels around Australia and the world to create playful, colourful jumpers and other knitted garments that amount to wearable art. Her brand, WAH-WAH, was born thanks to an idea she had "rumbling around in the back of [her] brain" to create knitted punk sweaters. "I just kind of love the idea of having that much care and attention put into a garment that pays tribute to punk music, the graphics, the posters that accompany it," Ms Milner from Helensburgh, north of Wollongong, said. "It had a really strong visual language. And yeah, it just kept evolving from there." The first partnership was with Sydney band the Hard-Ons, whose bassist, Ray Ahn, gave Ms Milner permission to adapt his artwork. While the partnerships have since expanded beyond punk music - other collaborators include First Nations clothing brand House of Darwin, Aboriginal artist Kaylene Whiskey, and British comedian and artist Noel Fielding - "honouring music, art, culture" remains at the heart of what WAH-WAH does. Recently, Ms Milner designed a jumper with the artwork Redback Graphix created for the 1982 Mary Callaghan film Greetings from Wollongong. The film gave its name to an exhibition now on at Wollongong Art Gallery, which Ms Milner also guest curated. While personal style was something she was interested in from a young age, Ms Milner didn't always dream of a career in fashion. After graduating from Smith's Hill High School in Wollongong she first studied psychology at university, then musicology. She could not see a long-term career in the latter, so she enrolled at TAFE NSW's Fashion Design Studio. Once she completed her course, Ms Milner undertook an internship with Diane von Furstenberg in New York. "It was great in the sense that it showed me what I didn't want to do ... I observed how fast the fashion world moves, and how unsustainable - and unsustainable also in terms of lifestyle," she said. "Like the designers were staying back till midnight, and it was a really eye-opening experience. There were great aspects to it, obviously, and it was really cool to see all the different facets of the industry and how much work goes into a big brand like that, but I came away thinking I never want to do that." She returned to Australia and started up her first label, producing high-end garments, but did not have the capital behind her to make it financially viable. However, the urge to create remained. The idea for WAH-WAH took root when Ms Milner read the book Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, and saw a photo of J Mascis from the band Dinosaur Jr wearing a hand-knitted jumper decorated with the logo of punk band Deep Wound. Punk has been a part of Ms Milner's life since she was young, and she herself plays drums in post-punk band Loose Fit. The name WAH-WAH is also nod to music; there's the music pedal by the same name, the song by George Harrison, and the song by Australian rock band (and WAH-WAH collaborator) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Ms Milner has collaborated with international bands too, including American indie rock icons Sonic Youth and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and her designs have reached audiences overseas with Noel Fielding wearing them while hosting The Great British Bake Off. This year delivered another highlight for WAH-WAH: showing as part of the We Wear Australian campaign at New York Fashion Week. Ms Milner was one of just 12 designers invited to take part. "That's the first time that I've been in a store with my garments and getting that direct feedback from customers [WAH-WAH is sold almost entirely online] and particularly customers who weren't familiar with the brand," she said. Environmental sustainability is a significant philosophy behind WAH-WAH, with most garments made of superfine merino wool and thought put into the environmental impacts of packaging. When Ms Milner first started producing clothing, she initially had only had access to yarn that was 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent nylon. While these garments were hard-wearing, the sustainable fashion writer Clare Press one day mentioned in conversation that the nylon component would stop the garments from being compostable and breaking down. "After that I was like, I really need to explore how to do it in the most sustainable way possible," Ms Milner said. When she had to find a new manufacturer, she thought it was time to focus on the fibres used. "I really like using merino wool because not only does it feel really beautiful to wear, it's breathable, it's a renewable fibre, naturally repels dirt and odour, and will eventually break down, unlike most garments which have some man-made synthetic fibres in them," Ms Milner said. Ms Milner has her eye on benefiting the community, too: profits or royalties from numerous WAH-WAH garments go towards various charitable causes (specialist homelessness service SAHSSI will benefit from the Greetings from Wollongong collaboration). Ms Milner mostly works from the Helensburgh home she shares with partner Max, son Levi, 3, and cavoodle puppy Bear. More collaborations are on the horizon, but they are in the early stages, so Ms Milner is reluctant to share too many details. Otherwise, she said, she was "trying really hard not to take on too much at the moment". "But I know that won't go to plan, so just creating space for opportunity to come up that I really want to explore." For 10 years now, Kaylene Milner has worked with bands, artists, and other labels around Australia and the world to create playful, colourful jumpers and other knitted garments that amount to wearable art. Her brand, WAH-WAH, was born thanks to an idea she had "rumbling around in the back of [her] brain" to create knitted punk sweaters. "I just kind of love the idea of having that much care and attention put into a garment that pays tribute to punk music, the graphics, the posters that accompany it," Ms Milner from Helensburgh, north of Wollongong, said. "It had a really strong visual language. And yeah, it just kept evolving from there." The first partnership was with Sydney band the Hard-Ons, whose bassist, Ray Ahn, gave Ms Milner permission to adapt his artwork. While the partnerships have since expanded beyond punk music - other collaborators include First Nations clothing brand House of Darwin, Aboriginal artist Kaylene Whiskey, and British comedian and artist Noel Fielding - "honouring music, art, culture" remains at the heart of what WAH-WAH does. Recently, Ms Milner designed a jumper with the artwork Redback Graphix created for the 1982 Mary Callaghan film Greetings from Wollongong. The film gave its name to an exhibition now on at Wollongong Art Gallery, which Ms Milner also guest curated. While personal style was something she was interested in from a young age, Ms Milner didn't always dream of a career in fashion. After graduating from Smith's Hill High School in Wollongong she first studied psychology at university, then musicology. She could not see a long-term career in the latter, so she enrolled at TAFE NSW's Fashion Design Studio. Once she completed her course, Ms Milner undertook an internship with Diane von Furstenberg in New York. "It was great in the sense that it showed me what I didn't want to do ... I observed how fast the fashion world moves, and how unsustainable - and unsustainable also in terms of lifestyle," she said. "Like the designers were staying back till midnight, and it was a really eye-opening experience. There were great aspects to it, obviously, and it was really cool to see all the different facets of the industry and how much work goes into a big brand like that, but I came away thinking I never want to do that." She returned to Australia and started up her first label, producing high-end garments, but did not have the capital behind her to make it financially viable. However, the urge to create remained. The idea for WAH-WAH took root when Ms Milner read the book Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, and saw a photo of J Mascis from the band Dinosaur Jr wearing a hand-knitted jumper decorated with the logo of punk band Deep Wound. Punk has been a part of Ms Milner's life since she was young, and she herself plays drums in post-punk band Loose Fit. The name WAH-WAH is also nod to music; there's the music pedal by the same name, the song by George Harrison, and the song by Australian rock band (and WAH-WAH collaborator) King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Ms Milner has collaborated with international bands too, including American indie rock icons Sonic Youth and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and her designs have reached audiences overseas with Noel Fielding wearing them while hosting The Great British Bake Off. This year delivered another highlight for WAH-WAH: showing as part of the We Wear Australian campaign at New York Fashion Week. Ms Milner was one of just 12 designers invited to take part. "That's the first time that I've been in a store with my garments and getting that direct feedback from customers [WAH-WAH is sold almost entirely online] and particularly customers who weren't familiar with the brand," she said. Environmental sustainability is a significant philosophy behind WAH-WAH, with most garments made of superfine merino wool and thought put into the environmental impacts of packaging. When Ms Milner first started producing clothing, she initially had only had access to yarn that was 80 per cent wool and 20 per cent nylon. While these garments were hard-wearing, the sustainable fashion writer Clare Press one day mentioned in conversation that the nylon component would stop the garments from being compostable and breaking down. "After that I was like, I really need to explore how to do it in the most sustainable way possible," Ms Milner said. When she had to find a new manufacturer, she thought it was time to focus on the fibres used. "I really like using merino wool because not only does it feel really beautiful to wear, it's breathable, it's a renewable fibre, naturally repels dirt and odour, and will eventually break down, unlike most garments which have some man-made synthetic fibres in them," Ms Milner said. Ms Milner has her eye on benefiting the community, too: profits or royalties from numerous WAH-WAH garments go towards various charitable causes (specialist homelessness service SAHSSI will benefit from the Greetings from Wollongong collaboration). Ms Milner mostly works from the Helensburgh home she shares with partner Max, son Levi, 3, and cavoodle puppy Bear. More collaborations are on the horizon, but they are in the early stages, so Ms Milner is reluctant to share too many details. Otherwise, she said, she was "trying really hard not to take on too much at the moment". "But I know that won't go to plan, so just creating space for opportunity to come up that I really want to explore."
