Strong women; may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them. Kristy Dickinson is making it easier to do all three of those, combining feminism and jewellery with bright, bold aesthetics that empower and strengthen this generation while targeting the next.
Through her line Haus of Dizzy, Kristy also makes a strong point of inclusion. Her indigenous heritage is often incorporated into her pieces, bringing social issues to the forefront in her own creative way.
Taking cues from feminist and Indigenous perspectives, Haus of Dizzy promotes a bright message of empowerment, pride and self-expression.
HAPPY: How did you get into the jewellery game?
KRISTY: I started creating and making jewellery part time back in 2001, selling my wares at Bondi beach Markets and a store I used to work at also at the beach. I have always loved making things, and when I decided to make it into a full time business in 2015 I really put my heart and soul into it, launching Haus of Dizzy.
HAPPY: What would you say is the message that you ultimately want to send with your pieces?
KRISTY: To be yourself, don’t follow trends and be proud and super confident in everything you do.
HAPPY: You have huge mix of different aesthetics. Where do you pull design inspiration from?
KRISTY: A lot of my inspiration comes from my childhood playing with barbies, Rainbow Bright, Strawberry Shortcake and all the other awesome ’80s toys that were bright, bold, colourful and always came with heaps of accessories.
HAPPY: A piece that really stands out is the huge, glittered Indigenous flag heart earrings. Did you find the process of incorporating your heritage to be easy, or challenging?
KRISTY: I am extremely proud of my Indigenous heritage and I really want to express that through my work as much as possible. I also have my Deadly range in which I hand paint every single piece. I have been busy designing a new Indigenous Pride collection and can’t wait to launch it.
HAPPY: Feminism and girl power are a huge trope that you express. How important is being able to express ourselves as females, and getting that expression across using what we choose to wear?
KRISTY: Being able to express ourselves through what we wear is very powerful, it’s showing people what you stand for and support without saying a thing. It’s also a great way to start conversations about these issues, and creates a platform to solve problems rather than sweeping them under the rug.
HAPPY: Through using words like ‘bitch’ in your creations, do you find that to be a way to reclaim terms typically used negatively toward women?
KRISTY: Yes I love to use powerful words on my earrings and reclaim them as a positive rather than a negative.
HAPPY: I personally love your Las Vegas inspired pieces that say ‘Welcome to Redfern.’ What made you combine those two ideas?
KRISTY: Every year I have a stall at the Sydney Mardi Gras Fair Day which is a fabulous event that I look forward to every year. I create a new piece each year for this event and I thought it would be fun and a bit cheeky to create a necklace and earrings for all my friends and family in Redfern and Newtown saying ‘Welcome to the fabulous…’
HAPPY: I also come from the inner west of Melbourne, so when I saw that represented through the medium of jewellery, I was astounded. How does your upbringing in this area inform your artistic choices – why did you want to bring these particular region to light?
KRISTY: I actually grew up in Sydney’s inner west in Newtown and Marrickville so that was the original thinking for INNER WEST SIDE. When I moved to Melbourne about eight months ago I realised that there was an awesome Inner West down here and my customers were so exited they could rep their hood with HOD.
HAPPY: I would love to know who inspires you – which designers do you look to?
KRISTY: I love anything that Jeremy Scott does! Jeremy Scott x Adidas originals, Jeremy Scott x Moschino.
HAPPY: What are your long-term goals with your jewellery, and where can you see yourself expanding to?
KRISTY: I want Haus Of Dizzy to be a household name! My next step is to grow HOD and get more staff and a bigger studio/warehouse. Hopefully we see a HOD Flagship store in Melbourne or Sydney soon.
