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26 <strong>Magazine</strong> | Feature<br />
Down to the wire<br />
The Christchurch earthquakes were a catalyst for creative soul Miranda<br />
Osborne to take a new direction – and the result is renowned furniture and<br />
homeware company Ico Traders, which focuses on community, sustainability<br />
and celebrating our chic and unique Kiwi lifestyles with family and friends.<br />
INTERVIEW JOSIE STEENHART<br />
Miranda, you have a background in art, textiles and<br />
fashion – tell us a little about that…<br />
My first career out of art school was painting, selling my art<br />
through galleries in and around New Zealand and the UK.<br />
My second ‘career’ was creating fabric designs (painting<br />
patterns by hand) and buying ranges for James Dunlop<br />
Textiles. I travelled overseas on buying trips and became<br />
involved in sales and marketing too. That gave me a<br />
great base of experience across all aspects of the design<br />
business. It also gave me my first taste of working with<br />
international manufacturing companies.<br />
My next career was as a womenswear buyer in the<br />
clothing industry. This involved lots of overseas travel,<br />
selecting, curating and designing ranges for New Zealand<br />
clothing companies and managing the offshore production.<br />
And how (and when) did that evolve into Ico Traders?<br />
When the Christchurch earthquakes turned our lives<br />
upside down, it forced me to rethink many aspects of my<br />
life. I decided to leave my job, which required frequent<br />
overseas trips, and look for a more sustainable career<br />
that allowed me to stay closer to my husband and two<br />
young daughters.<br />
In 2012, I founded Ico Traders. I was working from<br />
home so it was a natural progression for me to start<br />
designing for in and around my environment. Wire<br />
furniture became my obsession and continues to this day.<br />
How has the business evolved over the years?<br />
I actually started selling vintage-style lighting for a short<br />
while, but then I found a factory making wire furniture<br />
and decided this was what I wanted to do. It’s still the<br />
same factory I work with today and we have been able<br />
to build a strong working relationship over the years.<br />
In 2023, we made the exciting step into the Australian<br />
market, joining forces with Forj Living Australia, who<br />
distributes the Ico Traders brand over there.<br />
What do you think sets Ico Traders apart in the market?<br />
I strive to be authentic and transparent in our everyday<br />
running of Ico Traders.<br />
My furniture designs are simple and because they<br />
don’t follow fast trends, I hope they are timeless. My<br />
aim is that a customer will invest in our pieces and keep<br />
them forever. After time they can be recoloured to<br />
bring new life, passed on to others or recycled.<br />
You still run the whole business from home (and<br />
even make team lunches most days?!)…<br />
I wouldn’t have been able to do this for so long if<br />
Bridgett and Georgia were different personalities.<br />
They have worked through renovations of the house<br />
and are surrounded by family life.<br />
Animals are a big part of all of our lives and now<br />
Bridgett brings her new puppy to doggy daycare.<br />
Ted is obsessed with Alfie and cries to get out of the<br />
truck as soon as he realises they’re coming to work.<br />
Making lunch each day is my language of love and<br />
appreciation of those who work with me.<br />
What was the very first Ico Traders piece you<br />
designed, and do you still produce it now?<br />
I started with three designs, I imported them in<br />
and stored them in my mother-in-law’s sitting room<br />
that had been boarded off and deemed unsafe from<br />
the earthquakes (it was later rebuilt). One of those<br />
designs was the Coromandel chair, which is still one<br />
of our favourite Ico Traders pieces.<br />
Tell us about the range of colours you offer…<br />
I hand-mix all the colours myself and they are then<br />
matched into powder paint. These are used in factory<br />
production, but we also work with industrial painters<br />
in Christchurch who hold stock of my powder for<br />
me. This means that if you see a style you like, but it<br />
doesn’t come in the colour you want, we can custom<br />
colour it for you.<br />
What are some of the current bestsellers?<br />
Always the Hokianga hanging chair, it’s a statement<br />
piece and a chair you can take time out in.<br />
The Benmore bench because it’s so versatile, these<br />
are used in so many different ways (at the table, in<br />
hallways, at the end of beds, outside).<br />
The Piha lounger, it looks like it came straight out<br />
of the ’60s (the inspiration came from someone’s<br />
veranda chair I used to walk past all the time, it had<br />
big mattressy cushions on it when in use and a wire<br />
skeleton when not. We modernised it and made it<br />
comfortable to sit in without needing cushioning<br />
(it’s something we pride ourselves on – all of our<br />
chairs are super comfy to sit in, with or without<br />
another layer).
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