about merchgirls
Merchgirls is a creative agency that designs and manufactures merchandise with a difference.
We create all kinds of cool things, including merchandise for your store, promotional products, corporate gifts and goodie bags – essentially anything you can dream up. (Once we made a tote bag that was 2 metres high for a photo shoot, which you can check out here).
Our products are high quality, highly covetable but competitively priced. Every piece is bespoke and every detail – from fabrications to custom labels – is designed to perfectly reflect your objectives. (Because if you can’t obsess over the details, what’s the point?)
We love collaborating with clients to help them extend their brand, increase revenue and reach new audiences. Think of us as a white label, a gun for hire; the team behind the scenes helping your business look extraordinary. We can pop your logo on a T-shirt, for sure, but we can also dream up an entire capsule range, create unforgettable designs and slogans, shoot the slickest flatlays imaginable, and help start an avalanche of likes. Just put it in the brief.
We live for creating product that gets attention for all the right reasons, so get in contact if you’d like a copy of our brand book or to set up a meeting. Merchgirls are based in Melbourne, Australia but distribute worldwide.
meet the merchgirls
We are a team, each with our specialty.
Kate Scott spent her formative years at The Australian Ballet in a range of senior marketing, brand and communications roles. A consummate all-rounder, at the Ballet she commissioned award-winning content, produced countless shoots, edited a pallet-sized coffee table book, and oversaw their pioneering approach to merchandising. (She also found time to write for publications like Rolling Stone, ThreeThousand, and edit the fashion chapter of The Melbourne Design Guide.) Kate engaged Hannah Chipkin to create a cheeky tote for The Australian Ballet in 2009, which sold out of its first run within six hours. It also sparked a long-term professional crush, which saw her becoming a Merchgirl in 2015. Kate looks after client liaison, strategy, and all things brand. She loves succulents, Liberty print, and won’t get out of bed for less than two coffees a day.
Fave girl movie: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. “I’m right on top of that, Rose!”
Hannah Chipkin was the mastermind of boutique Melbourne label Chip Chop!, renowned for its printed graphics and unforgettable slogans. In its decade-long reign, Chip Chop! was stocked by over 50 retailers and covered extensively by Vogue, Russh, Cosmopolitan, Frankie, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Marie Claire, The Age, the Herald Sun and Broadsheet. After collaborating with high-profile brands such as Sportsgirl, Russh Magazine, The NGV and The Australian Ballet on attention-getting products, Hannah founded Merchgirls in 2015 to take her designs to the masses. She brings her flair for colour, form, fabrication and prints to every item she creates, and if you ask nicely she’ll incorporate one of her trademark tongue-in-cheek slogans. Hannah is obsessed with pink and red (hello – branding!), Paris, pizza, her two little girls, warm weather and nice shoes.
Fave girl movie: Clueless. “Duh!”
Pippa Joseph has over 20 years’ experience in garment production and quality control. As the owner of Gemi productions, she has direct manufacturing capability via her factory in Bali, as well as relationships with ethically accredited manufactures in Australia, China, India and beyond. She has overseen production for cult brands such as Nicholangela, Amy Kaehne, Amber & Thomas, Chip Chop!, companies like The Australian Ballet and Sportsgirl, and numberless independent retailers. In 2003 she launched her own fashion label Jaakan, which had its flagship store on Chapel St, Prahan and was stocked extensively across Australia and Japan. Pippa co-founded Merchgirls with Hannah Chipkin in 2015, and is our secret weapon in turning the craziest creative concepts into reality. Pippa likes yoga, vodka and weekends in nature, all in that order.
Fave girl movie: Pretty Woman. “Big mistake. Big. Huge.”