Amy Camilleri Interview for Eco Lyloh

Amy Camilleri Interview for Eco Lyloh

Step out in style this summer with Eco Lyloh - a range of beautiful sarongs made from 100% Organic Cotton Jersey and dyed with colours from the earth.

Available in two sizes, small/medium (110 x 160cm) and medium/large (120cm x 180cm), your Eco Lyloh sarong is the perfect accessory to keep you chic, stylish and comfortable for any occasion this summer.

Eco Lyloh sarongs are dyed and painted at a natural dye house in Bali, Indonesia. Utilising mostly locally grown plants, Eco Lyloh uses colour from natural resources to create eye-catching fashion pieces to be worn with love.

Created using 100% Certified Organic Cotton Jersey from the Netherlands, your sarong will feel luxuriously soft, like a second skin.

With nine different outfits to be created including tops, maxi halter dresses, jumpsuits and pants - simply change your outfit depending on your disposition. Follow the link www.youtube.com/lylohsarongsaust to see the online Lyloh Guide to Styling a Sarong with step by step instructions on how to recreate these looks.

Who is Eco Lyloh?
Eco Lyloh is created for women between 27-55 years old who care about the earth. She is fashion conscious and takes pride in living a healthy lifestyle. Taking holidays to tranquil tropical locations to escape the daily 9-5 life, she travels in style and comfort with her Eco Lyloh.

The Eco Lyloh range is available online www.lyloh.com and at independent fashion retailers. Check the website for more information.

Techniques and Styles
The leaves to create the dye used for Eco Lyloh sarongs are freshly picked, mulched and brewed over hot gas for four hours. The dye is then left to settle in a barrel for a minimum of an hour depending on the depth of colour required.

Coco Palm: A palm leaf is placed on the sarong as a stencil and airbrushed with dye which is created from Indian Almond Leaves.
RRP: $126

Coral Garden: Dyes are sponged on randomly, a true reflection of the artistic flair of Andi, the dye house manager. Dyes are made from Indian Saapan Red Wood and Indian Almond Leaves.
RRP: $122

Rainbow: The paintbrush is made by smashing the root end of Elephant grass. The grass paint brush is then dipped into each colour to create a rainbow across the sky.
RRP: $122

Low Tide: The Low Tide impression is created with rollers over scrunched up organic cotton jersey. Colours are extracted from Indigo leaves, Indian Almond leaves and Mahogany leaves.
RRP: $122

Jias Paint Brush: Painted with the same paint brush used for the Rainbow sarong. Colours come from Indigo leaves and Indian Almond Leaves.
RRP: $112

Feeling Peachy: Mahogany leaves create the dye that is then watered down so that the organic cotton jersey can be dipped in.
RRP: $112

Wategoes Beach: Mango leaves create the colour of the sand and Indigo leaves create the colour of the water. The dye is watered down so that the organic cotton jersey can be dipped in
RRP: $112

Interview with Amy Camilleri

Question: What inspired you to create Eco Lyloh?

Amy Camilleri: I have two brands, Eco Lyloh and Lyloh as a general brand. Basically I started with Lyloh about three years ago; I was travelling around Asia and couldn't find a sarong that was good quality or that was a good size that allowed you to make different outfits or even be able to wrap the sarong around me, twice. I made my own, in Asia and made some for my friends and then came back to Australia where everyone loved them, I received lots of comments on the sarong and it progressed from there.

Eco Lyloh is a new label we have started under the label of Lyloh. Eco Lyloh is 100% organic and all the dyes are natural.


Question: What's unique about Eco Lyloh?

Amy Camilleri: With Lyloh each sarong comes in three sizes: short, middle or long which means that taller, smaller and bigger people can all have a sarong that suits each shape.


Question: How are Eco Lyloh sarongs created?

Amy Camilleri: With Eco Lyloh they are all created at a natural dye house. Basically, what we do is pick out leaves and they mulch the leaves off the tree and boil the mulch for four hours and then they create the colour from that.

We either use saffron and Indian wood which brings out a red colour or we use Indigo or Mango leaves. We have experimented a lot with the plants, colours and techniques of the natural dye house.


Question: As plants are used to create the colour, does that mean every sarong is slightly different in colour?

Amy Camilleri: They're never really the same. They're quite similar, but never really the same which is what I love about it. Each piece is unique and no one else is going to have the same one.

In terms of colour it can depend on the season of when we pick the leaves. Sometimes if the leaves are moister then the colours may be darker. We do try and keep the colours quite similar because you want to be able to buy what you can see online, but we do make sure we let everyone know that each sarong will be a slightly different colour.


Question: How involved in the process of picking leaves are you?

Amy Camilleri: The plantation for the natural dye factory is about an hour from where the actual production of the sarongs takes place. I do go out and ensure that the process is all going well and I understand a lot of the processes, but not 100% of it. I often go out there with the production manager, so he can help me choose a lot of it and explain it too me.


Question: Can you talk about the nine different outfits you can make with one sarong?

Amy Camilleri: You can create more than nine outfits, but nine is really the basic amount of outfits that you can create. You are able to create a lot more than nine by experimenting. We always have people sending us photos saying "Look at the new outfit, I just created" or when I'm running out the door and I have nothing to wear I quickly whip up a new outfit! You can create a lot more than nine, but we say nine because they're the most basic ones. Once you have the nine most basic outfits nailed you can create a lot more.


Question: What originally inspired you to get into designing clothes?

Amy Camilleri: To be honest I never really wanted to be a 'fashion designer' and I still don't think that I am. I just design for people not for fashion. The inspiration came from not being about to find a sarong and then creating the outfits came from when I tried to sow, I really can't sow. My Grandma has tried numerous times to teach me, but it really just doesn't work. I knew there had to be an easier way so that's how I started creating my own outfits, with the sarongs.


Interview by Brooke Hunter