Mambo Graphics
Encyclopedia
Mambo is an Australian surf and street clothing brand. It was launched in 1984, by Dare Jennings and business partner, Andrew Rich in the Sydney
suburb of Alexandria.
.
Mambo began life as an “after hours” project in the Phantom artroom. The graphics were initially created by in-house artists such as Jodi Phillis
, and by freelance artist, Richard Allan whose first t-shirt graphics, ‘Real Wrestlers, Real Wrestling’ and, ‘Call Of The Wild (Farting Dog)’ were the best sellers.
(guitarist and original member of Australian rock band, Mental As Anything
), Robert Moore, Paul McNeil, Marcelle Lunam, Matthew Martin, Gerry Wedd, Robert Williams (US)
, Trevor Jackson (UK), Rockin’ Jelly Bean (Japan) and more recently, Josh Petherick, Ben Frost
, Kelly Smith, Marty Schneider and Kareena Zerefos.
in Darwin
. Mambo has also exhibited in London
, Bologna
(Italy
) and in Sydney
at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA
) and Powerhouse Museum
.
suburb of Paddington
, called the ‘Mambo Friendship Store’. Stores opened in other Australian cities and in the UK, Europe
, Asia
and NZ. By 2001 Mambo had opened 25 independent retail stores.
In 1994, the first Mambo ‘Loud Shirt’ was released. The design was influenced by the famous Hawaiian ‘Aloha’ shirt. It was called ‘Blue Hawaii’ by Martin Plaza
(a band mate of Reg Mombassa
). This shirt became one of Mambo’s best sellers and started the Mambo ‘Loud Shirt’ style.
In 2000 Mambo received an invitation from the Australian Wool Board to design the Australian athlete’s uniform for the opening ceremony
of the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney
.
After the Summer Olympic Games, Dare Jennings was approached by Gazal Corporation
to buy the brand. Dare Jennings sold the company in March of that year and took over the roll of creative director. He left the company two years later, in 2002.
In 2006, Principle (an Australian research company) named Mambo ‘Australia’s sixth most authentic brand’ alongside Bonds, Speedo, R. M. Williams
and Billabong
.
In 2008 Mambo was sold to The Nervous Investor Group, an Australian based consortium headed by Angus Kingsmill and based in the Sydney
beachside suburb of Manly
.
Mambo is sold across Australia
and New Zealand
and, in 2011, entered the USA and Canada
and has opened Mambo stores in the UK.
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Alexandria.
Early Days
In the early 1980s Dare Jennings owned a large and successful screenprinting business Phantom Textile Printers, producing t-shirt and fabric prints for a variety of commercial clients. He also owned an independent record label, Phantom RecordsPhantom Records
Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings Phantom Records was an Australian independent record label established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing) and...
.
Mambo began life as an “after hours” project in the Phantom artroom. The graphics were initially created by in-house artists such as Jodi Phillis
Jodi Phillis
Jodi Christine Phillis is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist. She spent her childhood in California, United States, and moved back to Sydney, Australia to begin school. She quit school at 15, then spent 8 years working with surfwear company Mambo Graphics until she took up the role as...
, and by freelance artist, Richard Allan whose first t-shirt graphics, ‘Real Wrestlers, Real Wrestling’ and, ‘Call Of The Wild (Farting Dog)’ were the best sellers.
Mambo Art
Richard Allan’s arrival at Mambo was followed by other Australian and overseas artists including, Reg MombassaReg Mombassa
Reg Mombassa is the pseudonym of Chris O'Doherty, a New Zealand born artist and musician. Resident in Australia, he is as well known there for his musical exploits — founder and former member of the popular Australian band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet - as he is for his art...
(guitarist and original member of Australian rock band, Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything
Mental As Anything are an Australian New Wave–rock music band formed at an art school in Sydney in 1976. Their most popular line-up was Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar; Reg Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals; his brother Peter "Yoga Dog" O'Doherty on bass guitar and vocals; Wayne "Bird"...
), Robert Moore, Paul McNeil, Marcelle Lunam, Matthew Martin, Gerry Wedd, Robert Williams (US)
Robert Williams (artist)
Robert Williams is an American painter, cartoonist, and founder of Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine.Williams was part of the Zap Collective, along with other underground cartoonists such as Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton...
, Trevor Jackson (UK), Rockin’ Jelly Bean (Japan) and more recently, Josh Petherick, Ben Frost
Ben Frost (artist)
Ben Frost is a visual artist whose work seeks to challenge contemporary norms and values of Western culture and society...
, Kelly Smith, Marty Schneider and Kareena Zerefos.
Exhibitions
In 1993 Mambo was invited by the Art Gallery of NSW to share wall space with an exhibition of Surrealist art, ‘Surrealism: Revolution By Night’. The following year the company released, ‘Art Irritates Life’, the first of its three books. The release coincided with the launch of an exhibition of original Mambo artwork at the Northern Territory Museum and Art GalleryMuseum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay...
in Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
. Mambo has also exhibited in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
(Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) and in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia is an Australian museum solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting and collecting contemporary art, both from across Australia and around the world...
) and Powerhouse Museum
Powerhouse Museum
The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, the other being the historic Sydney Observatory...
.
History
Mambo opened its first store in 1995. Located in the SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
, called the ‘Mambo Friendship Store’. Stores opened in other Australian cities and in the UK, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and NZ. By 2001 Mambo had opened 25 independent retail stores.
In 1994, the first Mambo ‘Loud Shirt’ was released. The design was influenced by the famous Hawaiian ‘Aloha’ shirt. It was called ‘Blue Hawaii’ by Martin Plaza
Martin Plaza
Martin Plaza is the pseudonym of Martin Edward Murphy , who is a vocalist/guitarist/songwriter with Australian pop/R&B band Mental As Anything. Plaza also has a solo music career and in 1986 had a #2 hit in Australia with his cover of the 1960s Unit 4+2 song "Concrete and Clay"...
(a band mate of Reg Mombassa
Reg Mombassa
Reg Mombassa is the pseudonym of Chris O'Doherty, a New Zealand born artist and musician. Resident in Australia, he is as well known there for his musical exploits — founder and former member of the popular Australian band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet - as he is for his art...
). This shirt became one of Mambo’s best sellers and started the Mambo ‘Loud Shirt’ style.
In 2000 Mambo received an invitation from the Australian Wool Board to design the Australian athlete’s uniform for the opening ceremony
Opening ceremony
An opening ceremony is the official opening of a building or event. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are huge events involving thousands of participants and watched by a massive worldwide audience. On a much smaller scale, some ceremonies mark the opening of a...
of the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
.
After the Summer Olympic Games, Dare Jennings was approached by Gazal Corporation
Gazal Corporation
Gazal Corporation Limited is a leading Australian branded apparel company and is a listed public company of the Australian Stock Exchange. The company is based in Banksmeadow in the Australian state of New South Wales...
to buy the brand. Dare Jennings sold the company in March of that year and took over the roll of creative director. He left the company two years later, in 2002.
In 2006, Principle (an Australian research company) named Mambo ‘Australia’s sixth most authentic brand’ alongside Bonds, Speedo, R. M. Williams
R. M. Williams
Reginald Murray Williams AO, CMG was an Australian bushman and entrepreneur who rose from a swagman, to a millionaire. Widely known as just 'R.M.', he was born at Belalie North near Jamestown in the Mid North, 200 kilometres north of Adelaide, into a pioneering settler family working and training...
and Billabong
Billabong (clothing)
Billabong International is a clothing company traded on the Australian Securities Exchange since 11 August 2000. Billabong was founded in 1973 by Gordon and Rena Merchant....
.
In 2008 Mambo was sold to The Nervous Investor Group, an Australian based consortium headed by Angus Kingsmill and based in the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
beachside suburb of Manly
Manly, New South Wales
Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Manly is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:Manly was named...
.
Mambo is sold across Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and, in 2011, entered the USA and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and has opened Mambo stores in the UK.