Meet The Maker

Howdy, I’m Silika (and I don’t normally say ‘howdy’, actually why did I just ‘howdy’?). Anyway, I am a finance assistant by day, and the Sew-E-O of Ebony Bolts by night, creating all the things you can see on this super-fancy, definitely-not-a-template Shopify website. 

How did I get here? Great question, imaginary person. I’ve been around - from producing music videos for Channel 31 to working at a high security men’s prison (I know right but that's for another blog), it’s been a journey. But if you’re asking specifically what brought me to starting Ebony Bolts, it was probably growing up as a curvy as hell 6ft Fijian Australian woman in Perth in the 90’s (hello we all remember that heroin chic phrase right yeesh!) and literally never being able to find anything to wear in my shape and size that I liked. So, I started making things for myself. 

I have an engineering kind of brain but rather than pull computers and tv’s apart I would pull apart old clothing and accessories to see how they are made (children this is way before you-tube how to videos). I love learning new skills and figuring out ways to make things, so what started out as skirts made out of curtains and tops out of tea towels in the 90s, soon became cushions out of pyjamas and rabbits out of hats (no animals were harmed in the making of that joke). 

So, when the pandemic hit and I got made redundant in March 2020 - I noticed I couldn't find a reusable mask so I started making them for friends and family and thought hmm lets chuck these up on Esty and see if this thing has legs

Turns out people love to buy accessories in bright and bold patterns (the world is bleak enough) from funny women, and soon I was sewing masks until stupid o’clock in the morning and shipping them all over the world (carbon offset of course). Slowly scaling by adding more and more to our range, in as ethical and sustainable a way as we can, we’re now living the ‘make stuff and sell it’ dream.

Committed to creating a business that is end to end good for everyone, and that thinks creatively to bring the best parts of tech and trade to the slow fashion movement, we are here to show the world that ethical can also be profitable and that everyone deserves access to sustainable alternatives without having to wear beige or break the bank.

None of us gets it right all the time, but with Ebony Bolts it's a small carbon offset footprint in the right direction.