These Modern Times

Modern Times has grown from strength to strength. The small business operation started by Amy and Joel Malin has established itself as a destination for gifts, jewellery, cards, art and furnishing amongst the Smith Street precinct. The eclectic collection has earned Modern Times a devoted following of keen fans of both Australian made and vintage sourced pieces. Ahead of the Christmas rush, we asked Amy a few questions on what’s next:

What was the ‘let’s go for it’ moment starting Modern Times?

Joel and I are always cooking up business ideas and this was one that really brought together both of our strengths and interests so it stuck.  We started out with the month-long Modern Times Pop-Up Shop in St Kilda which was just a really mini lo-fi version of what we do now. After our second pop-up, which we sensibly moved north side, we were ready to take the plunge and set up a full-time store.

Where did the interest for Danish furniture originate? 

After a career in music Joel had started to work in the building industry, this really got him interested in architecture and the history of architecture. Being such a history buff this led him to the history of furniture design and the importance and beauty of mid-century Danish design where his passion was really ignited. We were furnishing our house at the time and we like to say that a few personal purchases just got out-of-hand, the next thing we knew we had a container heading our way!

Why do you think Danish furniture maintains popularity?

Original Danish mid-century pieces come from a long tradition of expert craftsmanship as well as a modernist design philosophy that is still a huge influence on contemporary design today. For this reason, the clean lines, visually light design and simple natural materials mix easily with contemporary pieces. Original design classics are timeless, so they never really go out of style either. It’s like having a beautiful sculpture or piece of art in your home.

Modern Times’ aesthetic is naturally aligned with the atmosphere of Collingwood and Fitzroy, why do you think that is?

I think that’s because Joel and I both come from creative backgrounds. Before Modern Times took over our lives (!) Joel made and produced music and I was a jewellery designer. Collingwood and Fitzroy is such a vibrant and dynamic neighbourhood, buzzing with artists, designers and plenty of other creative entrepreneurs, that we just seem to slot in nicely amongst it all.

Amy and Joel

The Modern Times shop is a Smith Street destination, how have you seen the area evolve since you first moved in?

Our end of Smith St used to be the quieter end and now it’s where it’s all happening and interesting shops are opening all the way down Smith St over Johnston towards Alexander Parade. Also – the food! Oh and the coffee! We are absolutely spoilt for choice but we’ve been pretty satisfied on all fronts since Alimentari and Everyday opened up. The locals are still very much around keeping things interesting too which is good, except for Chopper, he’s gone now…

Where do you source your vintage pieces, are there go to markets in Copenhagen?

If I told you the type of places we sourced our furniture you wouldn’t believe me – think never-ending magical wonderlands of Danish furniture collected by bigger fanatics than Joel and I with a lot more space. I’m not even kidding! We also source great pieces from Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Holland. Having pieces from a mix of distinct traditions provides a rich mix of the organic, flamboyant and austere.

Artwork has become a central feature of Modern Times, how do you select the works you exhibit?

This is an area of great passion for me. The way I select work is simple – do I like it? Can I imagine it bringing joy to our customers? I see Modern Times very much as an alternative to the white cube gallery, we present work of high artistic quality and integrity in context with the furniture so it’s a lot more approachable.  I always emphasise to our customers that art should enhance your living space and most importantly, make you feel good! In the last few years, our exhibition program has really gained traction with back-to-back sell out shows. This is very exciting as it allows us to tread that line between gallery and retail space.

Where do you see Modern Times in 5 years? Do you have plans for expansion?

Oh gosh, that’s a hard one. We have a lot of ideas, as I said before, so deciding on a simple course of action is hard for us. Producing our own furniture is something we’ve been dabbling in and we’ll be continuing to develop that over the next 12 months. As well as the manufacturing side, we have ideas to branch into other industries such as hospitality too!

The Modern Times brand is very striking, what role do you see a brand playing in a successful business?

Brand is very important. If it is authentic, it tells an important story and is the best way to communicate the business values. I am very lucky to have a talented brother-in-law, Jake Smallman, who runs the design studio Self-titled  Jake has really helped us develop a strong visual identity from the beginning and from there we have brought in photographers and stylists along with our unique product mix to create an identity we are really proud of. The brand really is the business values, so to run a successful business, your core values have to run though everything you do in a consistent way. Everything from the visual identity to the way we present the showroom and interact with customers is a reflection of what is most important to us and our brand has organically evolved from that.

Modern Times is at 311 Smith Street, Fitzroy