Bondi Local | John MacArthur (repost)
One of our favourite Bondi Locals is closing down his Curlewis Street “Purl Harbour” shop and moving onto the next chapter of his working life. There’s a sale starting 9 July (tomorrow) and running until 17 July. Everything must go! To that end we are happy to repost this profile of John from August 2015.
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Bondi Local | John Macarthur
John is an iconic Australian knitwear designer and maker. His Curlewis Street shop-fronted business Purl Harbour is famous for not only its ready made knitted garments but also its custom made and speciality knits. He is a fashion industry legend, although he would NEVER describe himself as such.
Both Melanie and Remo have known John for a very long time … more than 25 years. They have remained good friends. In fact, he is also their Pearl’s “Dogfather” … and the provider of her second home for when both Melanie and Remo are out of town.
Melanie spoke to John and this is what he said:
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John, what brought you here to this stool in Bondi surrounded by all of these beautiful knitted things?
I’m a left over hippy. The whole thing’s an accident. There was/is no design to it. I travelled for a long time, and when I came back from travelling I thought all that travel would put me in good stead to become a travel agent or something. But, it wasn’t like that at all. (This is really awkward.) I became quite sick and was bedridden for a short period, and did a lot of knitting. I have always knitted at different times of my life. During my hippy period, when I walked around knitting ‘coz it made me look as if I was on acid and yet I didn’t have to be on acid. I knitted when I was in Europe because I didn’t have any money and I needed to keep warm. And also I came from Bombala, a little country town south of Cooma. No TV, before all that, and so you’d knit and (just to bloke it up a bit) we did a bit of carpentry. So that’s how it started.
Also, when I was sick, Stuart Membery, who was in fashion at the time, said why don’t you do it for blah, blah, blah … so I did. I did one hand knit, then I got a machine, thought it could do a hundred, but it couldn’t, but I quite enjoyed it. So here I am. How many years later? You’ll have to ask nurse. It was before ‘88. So, more than 30 years later.
Why Bondi?
That’s an interesting one, ‘coz I was in Double Bay when I started it [the business]. I still don’t know why it took me so long to find my handwriting, which was Bondi. I’ve been in Sydney for a long long time. I’ve been on the North Shore, and Darlinghurst. For some reason, all of a sudden Bondi seemed to be the perfect fit. Even though it was not really practical. This was when I was selling a lot more. Bondi wasn’t in the manufacturing zone. It wasn’t in a cold climate. It wasn’t in the Oxford Street fashion precinct. It was its own thing. But it was more important to me because of the Bondi vibe that I liked.
You swim in the ocean every day. Was that something you have always done?
No, that’s something that has grown from and for a bunch of people. We started swimming across the Bay as a bit of a madness at first, and got bitten. Maybe I have an addictive personality!
Your beat?
Bondi to me is the beach, and it’s the people who are here. That’s the common denominator. That’s the bottom line. All the other things are just extras. It’s changed so much, massively from when I first came here, but I still love it. Even though what I thought of as the core of the place has changed/evolved, I still love it. The things that I loved from when I first came were that it was bohemian, that it was blue collar, that there were Hungarians, Jews, a whole diverse thing.
The Icebergs Club itself was an extraordinary place. You had a huge room with the bar at one end and the toilets at the other. And there were great big tables in the main room. As the night went on you kept going backwards and forwards to the toilets the more you drank, and then you’d see different people. People would join your table and you talked to so many different people and hence you got to know the whole community. That was important for me as there were so many different people, a diverse range of people and I loved them (I still do). When they changed the Icebergs [via refurbishment in 2002] and turned it into that corridor it lost that whole thing. You could say to someone now – “Oh I was at the Icebergs last night” and they’d say “I was there, I didn’t see you”.
Tell me about your work. What kind of people are you knitting for?
That’s the thing. There’s nothing to say. I don’t hold it [the business] in any regard other than I like doing it. You need to ask someone else. Don’t ask me. I do love doing it. I love colour. Like any world from the outside looking in, it looks totally different from being inside looking in. Even the simplest jobs involve anxieties that are not obvious looking in from the outside.
What are you excited about right now?
I’m excited about stopping all this … and getting a life!
I always live for summer, so any hint of it absolutely thrills me to bits. And I got even more excited when I read that el nino is coming! We’re supposed to be, Oh God, those poor farmers, and I’m thinking, Oh God I’m going to be so brown this summer!
I’ve got a very blessed life and I’ve got a beautiful partner and I have a beautiful home (what I find a beautiful home) and just, pretty well every day is a good day. In fact my partner Julian is the epitome of upbeat, and so, for example, we’ll go for a walk down to the beach in the morning and he’ll say isn’t this just incredible! If it wasn’t for him I’d probably just be walking back and forth from the beach going … here we go, another day. So just to have that constantly going on is a jolt, it’s unbelievable.
Where do you eat or drink?
Whoever will have me! It’s got to have a ramp! I’m not a foodie. I like any vibe. it’s the people I go with. That’s the whole thing about Bondi. Where do I shop? Nowhere in particular … but, if I was with a bunch of people and I was in a shop, I’d probably buy. And the same goes with a restaurant. I’ll go to Gelbison just as happily as I’d go to A Tavola, etc.
Your special places?
I love the geography of the whole place. I like the fact that the beach is that exact size, and that it faces that way. In fact, it’s so extraordinary because by having those two headlands, it makes you feel protected. There’s something really nurturing about it. Most of the people who are here appreciate that, and that’s why I connect with the people here.
What are you reading?
Well, I probably read a book a week. Right at the moment I’m reading Jonathon Topper’s The Book of Joe, which is not my normal thing. It’s funny, it’s well written – he’s a great writer. Before that I read, um, what was it? I read so much they all blur together! I’ve got to remember as I’ve been recommending it to people! – Sonya Hartnett’s Golden Boys! If you get a minute, READ IT!
Are you a TV watcher?
Not particularly, but I do enjoy Monday night when I get onto the Q&A’s, although that does bother me because they never resolve things and just when things get going and the match is lit and the kindling is beginning to burn, he [current host Tony Jones] blows the thing out! But I saw something last week which was Chris [Hadfield] the astronaut – unbelievable! OMG I was in tears. I swear to God I’ve never seen anything more inspirational in my life!! The fact the he is Canadian and the fact he’s looking at the world, and as he’s travelling around the world, and he’s asking himself, are you Canadian or are you of the whole world? Talking about motivations and dangerous living and how you’ve got to be a bit dangerous and the most important thing is looking for the next thing. Don’t go looking for the end thing.
Your motto?
To be honest, I wouldn’t have one, because I don’t think it’s valid to live by a set of … I think you’ve got to be broad and well, that could be my motto – “Don’t have a motto, and be broad as you can!“ And again, like that guy said, don’t fixate on an end goal, go to the next step and then the next step, but make sure there’s a bit of danger involved in each step.
Except at my age, I’m not going to be too dangerous!
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