Making Rainbows in Rajasthan

Jodhpur in Rajasthan is fast becoming our ‘third’ home away from home; it’s where we source all of our fabrics and where we are lucky enough to visit once or twice each year.

It is also one of the most inspirational places we have ever been to and provides a marvellous backdrop of imagery, colour, people and experiences … all of which we pour into the fabric selection and design of each KissinCussin range.

This year we were lucky enough to have our friend and previous KC model traveling along with us on our way to Talalla Bay. And so cousin Jess with her wonderful talents as photographer and cousin Hayley, a worthy assistant, were eager to seize the opportunity to develop a photo-shoot in the Rajasthani desert. We styled our model against this marvellous backdrop of inspiration using our favourites from the SS 2010/2011 collection and some serious Indian bling and headscarves.

I can’t quite find the words to say how unreal this experience was, how lucky we were to capture some of our most vibrant fabrics and pieces against this seductive desert location and breathe such incredible life into our clothes, but the following pictures can.

They give a ‘behind the scenes’ glimpse of the day …. the Rajasthani desert complete with camels… the sheep and sheep herders … the wonderful Brahmin blue of Jodhpur fort … the smiles and colour of all the people who helped and who we met along the way … a truly fabulous day.

To view the full shoot and other marketing materials please visit our facebook fan page www.facebook.com/kissincussin

Thank you – infinity – to everyone involved xx

It's been a while

The KissinCussin’s have had a little break from this blog while we’ve been busy nurturing the foundations of our label, but we’ve since come to realise there is so much love, care and unique experience that goes into each piece that must go unnoticed. We are after all a label ‘made with love’ and hopefully the coming posts (which we vow to update regularly) will show you why.

As a start we wanted to give some insight into vastly colourful life we’ve created here in Sri Lanka, very lucky that we are to spend 3-4 months each year creating our designs and manufacturing with the wonderful ladies in our beloved ‘Talalla Bay’.

The following pics mainly feature the Peraherra festivals which take place from May through to August in Sri Lanka in many of the villages and bigger towns. They are religious festivals (Buddhist mainly) highlighting the birth, day and enlightenment day of the lord Buddha … think drumming, chanting, trumpets, dancing, elephants, costume and lots of Sri Lankan smiles and laughter. So colourful, so unique … hope you enjoy xx

Our New Project

There is much to report about our Talalla Bay adventures since the last entry and since finishing the tsunami relief work, which first brought us here.



As we fell in love with the life and people of Talalla we realised there was more that we could do to help the community, and so we, cousins Jess and Hayley, developed a clothing label with an idea to manufacture domestically from Talalla Bay, to generate livelihoods and support an industry from within the very heart of the village.



We have been dedicated to our cause working out of Sydney and Sri Lanka to develop KissinCussin, aptly named for the two of us life-loving cousins and the journey we started in Talalla together.



From humble beginnings, two years ago, we produced a range of cute summer dresses for the market stalls of Australia. Since then, in leaps and bounds, we have made much progress and have a great following in Australia of women eager to support our outlook and buy our stand out designs.

If you wish to see KissinCussin’s current collection please visit www.kissincussin.com

Increased popularity and demand for our label means we have managed to double the number of employees in Talalla Bay, again set to rise by 100% next year. Our team of local ladies is headed by Nishanti, and we all come to her house each day to work.













Through KissinCussin, stocked widely across Australia, we hope to continue in our efforts to generate further employment in Talalla and to help the wider community. We aim to implement vocational education classes, for the community hall of Talalla Bay, which was built during our work for the tsunami relief project.



This has been the most amazing experience from the beginning until now and it only gets better as more opportunities for Talalla Bay present themselves, if we can assist some of the many gifted and talented people here, to give them some opportunity to realise and follow their own dreams, as we have been able to follow ours, then it is all the more worthwhile.

These pictures can tell our story infinitely better than words so please take a look to follow the amazing adventure we started and which, by no means, is over. We will be updating regularly with images and insights so please stay in touch at this address to learn more about the KissinCussins and Talalla Bay – Enjoy xx

Foundation Stone Ceremony

On Monday 8th August, the Talalla Support Group were guests at the foundation stone ceremony for the building of the Community Hall. The day was full of colour and happiness as the whole Talalla community came together for the commencement of this wonderful project.
Our charity, headed by Lawrie Rose, a Jewish man, is funding the Hall, to be built by a Muslim man, Mr Uwaiz, on a Buddhist site for the benefit of local Talalla people of many varying religions and backgrounds. This is brought so much joy and optimism to everyone taking part in the project, as an area of such a diversity is brought together in such unity, proving we can all work and play together with a little respect and understanding. In my opinion, it is the way the world should be.
The day started mid morning, as we followed the students of the Sunday Dharma class, elaborately dressed in traditional Sinhalese costumes, singing, playing instruments and dancing up the driveway to the site. On arrival we were presented with Betel leaves by some of the Montessori preschool children, and then sacred white flowers, which we took up to the temple and presented to Buddha.
Next on the agenda, the Talalla Support Group, the builders, some local council members and respected gentlemen were all presented with a brick each. We lined up along a trench, which was dug in the area where the Community Hall is being built, and one by one we placed our bricks in the ground and covered them with cement provided.
A lot of credit goes to Mr Pinsiri, a local teacher who was also a victim of the Tsunami, he has selflessly given much of his time to organising this event as well as the planning for the construction of the Community Hall.
By Jess Brown.