What made you create the Arnott’s collection?

Total nostalgia -  it was a huge part of my childhood and the childhood of most Australians so it made sense for it to be a part of my story telling.

For my fifteen year anniversary collection, I wanted to do something truly special to celebrate this milstone. I wanted to go into my own big back yard of Australia and celebrate its diversity. It’s a truly playful collection with nods to my childhood, vintage teatowels, my grandmother, the outback, the rainforest, the Great Barrier Reef, our unique flaura and fauna, the land and a very special Aboriginal artist collaboration.

Arnott’s talks to my life growing up in Watson Bay, my childhood years. It congurs up many memories for me... There was always a biscuit tin full of their delicacies hidden in our pantry at home. The brand is an institution for so many Australians.

When we were designing the collection, I wanted to partner with a brand that was playful and unexpected, but also special to Australia – and Arnott’s was this for me.

Camilla Franks with @hugh_sheridan

How did the designs come about?

Whenever visiting my Grandma’s house in Newcastle as a little girl I would always sneak off to devour her biscuits. A cupboard filled with every girls dream. Arnott's Tins filled with my favourite biscuits. My grandma always wondering where they had disappeared to as I lay there covered in crumbs and a full belly.  

She always kept them in the old Arnott's biscuit tins so there was always something romantic and sentimental about the old packaging to me that lay in my Grandma’s cupboards for years.

I had to turn to old packaging and early day Arnott’s as inspiration for the designs to tell my childhood stories.

We’ve reimagined an old biscuit tin my grandmother had into a handbag and adorned it with an Iced VoVo keychain. We have a kaftan boldly brandishing the CAMILLAfied branding, a hoodie and robe with a fully embellished patchwork biscuit tin with the iconic Arnott's logo.  

It was a non-negotiable to turn these designs on their head and give it some extra CAMILLA trimmings.

What was the design process?

Our team reached out to them with my crazy idea and their response was positive so we started to explore the creative possibilities. We began by researching all the old packaging and talking to Arnotts about some of the brands history. We then began mocking up designs on different products, designing beading templates to celebrate the Arnotts logo in all its glory and then filtering them through for approval until we got to a place where both parties were singing and dancing to the same designs. We ended up with a capsule collection full of fun and play.

Were there any challenges working with such a major heritage brand?

I wouldn’t say challenges. If anything, our biggest objective was to do the brand justice and respect their iconic positioning. It’s an honour to be partnering with Arnott’s, so we’ve poured a lot of love and patience to ensure we got this one perfect.