About us
Kalli and James (Jim) Milioulis are a husband and wife team with a passion for design.
Kalli is the creative type. Learning how to use her hands from a very young age, Kalli first learnt to be crafty by her grandmother Fotini who was a designer and dress maker. Fotini loved to crochet, knit, sew and passed the love of craft onto Kalli.
Kalli always dreamed of being a fashion and jewellery designer from the time she could walk. Wishing to be artisitc like her grandmother she made her own jewellery and spent hours everyday designing fashion outfits from a children's stencil. By the time Kalli got into high school her dreams of being in the fashion industry had been somewhat destroyed when her art teacher told her it was too hard an industry to get into so she directed her efforts into a business degree instead. This led Kalli into a corporate career and then into the creation of a family business in the Cake Industry.
James is a strong business minded individual who loves to strive for the top. With a very strong background in a variety of business management positions, James coupled this with his passion of teaching. Alongside his career as a Business Trainer and Business Coach, James has also owned a variety of small businesses.
After many years in designing and hand crafting novelty cakes and wedding cakes the family sold off their business interest and finally it was time for Kalli and James to follow their dreams of creating a business of their own.
They dreamt of a business that would give them the opportunity to fulfill their passion for travel and creative flair for design. One day in late 2015 Kalli and James were clearing out the spare room and Kalli opened a box from her child hood. As she went through the box she found hundreds of fashion sketches that she had drawn over the years and a box full of her handmade jewellery. She couldn't believe how much passion she had for it all. Needless to say opening this childhood box was the start of the amazing Kalli James Design Story.
It has been a little over 8 years since the light bulb moment to start Kalli James Design. Since the launch of Kalli James Design in December of 2016, the team have sold at hundreds of events and festivals around Melbourne.
In 2020 the festivals and events stopped just as the world stopped. Being focussed on weekends and events for so many years meant that Kalli James no longer has a place to foster its growth.
Kalli moved her attention to the family dessert business and James continued to work from home as a TAFE trainer.
Over 2 years of Melbourne Lockdowns Kalli and James focussed on creating new collections and sold many pieces from the family dessert business. It seemed that even during difficult times people still wanted jewellery to cheer them up and ordered jewellery as gifts to be delivered alongside their desserts.
On the 5th of September 2022 the Goddess by Kalli James Collection was launched at Eastland Shopping Centre as a pop up kiosk with a focus on Stainless Steel Hypoallergenic jewellery.
Kalli James grew rapidly creating customised designs and soon became a favourite Jewellery destination. After 9 months of pop ups in Eastland, Kalli James moved into their own store on Level 2 in The Arcade in 10th of June.
Kalli James promises to bring you the most beautiful handmade jewellery designs inspired and influenced from around the world.
Welcome to our journey.
Kalli and James xo
Instagram @kallijamesdesign