Our Designers

Introducing the amazing people who bring Erstwilder creations to life! Alongside our skilled in-house team, we’re proud to collaborate with some of the most talented artists, illustrators, and designers in Australia and the world over. Though we constantly take feedback from our wonderful community (you!) around what collections to create, the wonderful personalities and passions of those behind the scenes also influence our work in the most amazing ways. So, with that said, meet the design team, past and present!

Current Designers

Hannah Buzgau

Designer from 2024-present

As Erstwilder's 'Creative Lead', Hannah spends her days designing the banners and graphics that enhance your online experience, as well as the packaging that houses your adored accessories. She love creating, viewing, and reviewing all things art and animation! And she also loves shopping for crazily patterned shirts. Outside of work, you can find Hannah at home playing point-and-click puzzle games, doing a jigsaw with her family, or reading poetry by the sea with a cup of chai.

 VIEW HANNAH'S COLLECTIONS

Carmen Hui

Designer from 2015-present

Carmen is an illustrator and artist based in Sydney’s inner west. She has a passion for drawing and is inspired greatly by animals and botanicals. A typical day for Carmen consists of running her online shop, working on commissioned artwork and creating super fun and colourful Erstwilder accessories. When not drawing, you can find Carmen hanging out with her cat Miso, visiting all the galleries or enjoying a Bloody Mary with her bestie and partner in crime.

 VIEW CARMEN'S COLLECTIONS

Shea O'Connor

Designer from 2024-present

Shea is an illustrator and designer currently drawing up a storm in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She is inspired by all things dripping in vintage glamour and joy, and fears no sparkle, of course. When she's not creating, you can find Shea complimenting the plants in her garden, singing and whistling to her two fur babies, watching old musicals, or reading voraciously with a piping hot coffee. We first collaborated with Shea when we brought her existing designs to life through wearable art for the Love Everlasting collection in 2023, but her first Erstwilder original collection was Atomic Abode in 2024.

 VIEW SHEA'S COLLECTIONS

Halena Lloyd

Designer from 2021-present

A Melbourne-based designer living with her family and fur baby Pepsi, Halena (or ‘Hallie’) helps illustrate the visionary concepts briefed by Erstwilder's creative team. Hallie loves the creative energy at Erstwilder and describes it is like “designing in sunshine ALL THE TIME!” Her favourite places to be include vintage shops or markets and she loves finding unique treasures that can be a source of inspiration. A few more of her favourite things include horses, in all forms - unicorns, Pegasus and seahorses! And her favourite movie is Xanadu which she describes as ‘…the mixed tape of movie greatness - 80’s, 50’s, roller skates, romance, music, dancing, Greek mythology and LA architecture.

 VIEW HALENA'S COLLECTIONS

Past Designers

Holly Cooper

Designer from 2022-2024

During her time at Erstwilder HQ as a Product Developer, Holly created and designed a number of wonderful and whimsical illustrations across various collections. Holly will tell you that she was born in the wrong decade, because she’s always loved everything from the '50s. This may be largely due to her ‘Nonnie’ who opened her eyes to all things glamorous. In her spare time, Holly is all about watching old romantic musicals and classic horror monsters, pet sitting fur babies and dreaming about living in a Disney fantasy land with her cat, Dinah.

 VIEW HOLLY'S COLLECTIONS

Elena Leong

Designer from 2015-2023

Living in a green and hilly areas of the outer suburbs of Melbourne, amongst many birds, kangaroos, horses and even alpacas, Elena is not short on inspiration and often carries a little notebook on her daily walks to jot down ideas that come to her while out and about. When not outdoors, Elena spends her time painting and illustrating, often until very late at night. Designing for Erstwilder allowed Elena to combine two of her favourite things - her love of nature and her love of colour.

 VIEW ELENA'S COLLECTIONS

Catherine Bowers

Designer from 2021-2023

For approximately two years, from early 2021 to early 2023, Catherine led the Erstwilder Design Team, having significant influence over the creative direction of collections and contributing to illustrative art as well. Most days, Catherine would spend time developing new concept sketches and illustrations, liaising with the production team to bring these designs to life. Having always possessed a passion for vintage fashion, Catherine loved Erstwilder’s modern take on eras gone by. Outside the office, Cat loves cuddling her two fur-baby Lagotto Romagnolo’s, baking something delicious in the kitchen, or sipping a Pina Colada in her Palm Springs landscaped garden.

 VIEW CATHERINE'S COLLECTIONS

Sally Land

Designer from 2015-2021

Growing up in a sweet little town by the seaside, Sally spent a lot of time drawing and playing with her bunnies. It was love at first site when Sally stumbled across her first Erstwilder brooch in a curious little shop in her hometown but her journey really began when she joined the design team in 2015. A few years later Sally secured a dream job — a permanent role at HQ as the ‘Head Designer'. And she proudly held the position until she was called away to explore other personal artistic pursuits in early 2021.

 VIEW SALLY'S COLLECTIONS

Jess Racklyeft

Designer from 2016-2018

Jess is a Melbourne based illustrator who has worked with Erstwilder on a number of collections. The partnership with Jess began after our design team noticed her incredibly stylish calendar which she published at the end of each year. Jess has gone on to become a multi-award-winning author and illustrator and continues her artistic pursuits today.

VIEW JESS' COLLECTIONS

Lorri McPherson

Designer from 2018-2018

Lorri is a Melbourne born and based creative. Ultimately encouraged by her grandmother and mother to follow her heart, she began developing her art and design skills from a young age. Lorri follows a strict genetic-based design quality control process throughout her collections, and her brother expertly keeps tabs on illustration. Much of Lorri’s work has been inspired by the women in her life and their broader collective experiences in and around Australia.

 VIEW LORRI'S COLLECTIONS

Cat Macinnes

Designer from 2013-2015

After an early career as a high school teacher, Cat changed direction and studied to become a graphic designer. A lover of colour, animals, insects and nature, she developed a passion for vintage accessories and dedicated most of her spare time to her personal creative pursuits. She served as an in-house member of the Erstwilder design team from 2013 to 2015. Cat continues to enjoy her family life and creative projects in Melbourne.

 VIEW CAT'S COLLECTIONS

Collaborations

Pete Cromer

Pete Cromer is an Australian designer, illustrator and happy art creator with a truly distinctive style. Celebrating the coming together of Australian creatives (and often celebrating native Australian animals), Pete’s bright and colourful designs have been transformed and brought to life as wearable art in multiple ERSTWILDER x PETE CROMER collaboration collections. These ranges have developed a dedicated following of their own, and even resulted in the creation of the term ‘Petewilder’.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X PETE CROMER COLLECTIONS

Jocelyn Proust

Jocelyn Proust is an Australian designer living on the north coast of NSW. With an international reputation for creating striking abstract prints in a clean graphic style, her designs are often a fine balance between simplicity and complex detail. Jocelyn draws inspiration from her vast collection of art and design books and her natural environment, including the plants and birds in her garden. These natural elements are used to create the unique designs Jocelyn is now widely recognised for, her Australian Native Flora and Australian Birds Collections. When she’s not busy designing, you can find her enjoying a morning walk or ocean swim.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X JOCELYN PROUST COLLECTIONS

Katherine Sabbath

The epitome of cool creativity, Katherine is adored for her show-stopping desserts and quirky style. Once a high school teacher, Katherine is now a celebrated cake creative globally with three best-selling cookbooks, TV appearances (notably Masterchef Australia and Dessert Masters), viral social media posts, fashion magazines and more.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X KATHERINE SABBATH COLLECTION

Fleur Harris

Australian artist and creative Fleur Harris is celebrated the world over for her highly detailed illustrative patterns of spirited woodland creatures. Fleur's passion for producing whimsical creations and a sense of wonder in the hearts of all those who encounter her work perfectly aligns with our own ethos, and the results are magic!

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X FLEUR HARRIS COLLECTION

Lauren Rogers

A proud Melbournian, just like us here at Erstwilder, Lauren Rogers is an artist, designer, illustrator and Creative Director who enjoys any and all art that makes her eyes and heart happy. This release seamlessly replicates her recognisable collage-style aesthetic for a collection that captures the joy of all four seasons, in stunningly vibrant resins.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X LAUREN ROGERS COLLECTION

Clare Youngs

Clare Youngs is a designer maker who primarily works with paper and fabric. Originally trained as a graphic designer, Clare has had a life long interest in everything handmade and has enjoyed making handcrafted objects since her childhood. She not only creates artwork, but has also written books and runs workshops from the Kent Coast, United Kingdom.

 VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X CLARE YOUNGS COLLECTION

Kasey Rainbow

Kasey’s purpose has always been to ‘live bright’ and inspire others to do the same. It’s this philosophy that inspired the creation of her comforting and colourful critters, each with their own unique biography, personality and pronoun, who all reside in the imaginary and totally adorable world of ‘Kutopia’.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X KASEY RAINBOW COLLECTION

Terry Runyan

Terry Runyan is a Kansas City, US-based visual artist and former long-time in-house illustrator for Hallmark. Renowned for her happy, playful art, Terry's work often explores a menagerie of animal life bursting with personality and character, which was a delight to transform into Erstwilder wearable art. A cat lover and creative encourager, Terry enjoys teaching and sharing her passion online.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X TERRY RUNYAN COLLECTIONS

Melanie Hava

With inspiration drawn from personal experience and a deep love for the Australian outback, rainforests, and reefs, Indigenous artist Melanie Hava’s artwork is a captivating combination of colour and pattern. A homage to Aboriginal art and culture, this collaboration features an assortment of Mel’s unique and distinctive character design, brought to life as wearable art.

VIEW THE ERSTWILDER X MELANIE HAVA COLLECTION

Laura Blythman

A proud Melbournian just like us, Laura Blythman is an illustrator and Creative Director who enjoys any art that makes her eyes and heart happy. Her 2023 Erstwilder range seamlessly replicates her recognisable collage-style, this time capturing the joy of all four seasons in stunningly vibrant resins.

 ERSTWILDER X LAURA BLYTHMAN COLLECTION

Mimsy Gleeson

A Brisbane-based tattoo artist and illustrator well known for her distinctive, quirky, and colourful artwork that draws inspiration from classic cartoons and Japanese culture, Mimsy was the perfect collaborator for our 2021 Halloween release, a collection of wearable art aptly titled ‘Cute & Spooky’!

 ERSTWILDER X MIMSY GLEESON COLLECTION

Stephanie Buscema

Stephanie is a New York based painter, illustrator and designer who's worked on a wide variety of projects, from picture books, comics, to character and textile design. We’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with Steph twice – the 2020 Halloween-inspired ‘Kitschy Witch Designs’ as well as ‘Alice's Wonderland’ in 2021.

 ERSTWILDER X KITSCHY WITCH COLLECTIONS

Mel Stringer

Mel Stringer is an Australian artist/illustrator now based in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their ever-growing plethora of plants. Mel's style can be described as cheeky, playful and empowering, with a strong focus on women and body positivity, as you’ll see in our 2019 release together.

 ERSTWILDER X MEL STRINGER COLLECTION