Bourbong Street’s newest resident wants customers and clients to discover something special at Knights Creative, a creative content agency and fashion boutique.
Andy Knight, the creative force behind the business, had a singular vision for his bold idea.
“We want it to be discovered, so we are off the main street, where you come down the arcade and into this little dark and moody environment,” he said.
“We went for yin-and-yang, with the black in the retail space which opens out into the full light of the studio.”
Andy and his team have brought new life to the former Brides and Belles store, which had been vacant for many years.
“We hand built everything from scratch, and now the studio is exactly tailored for the way I shoot and the way I teach.”
Knights Creative is a multi-facetted business, reflective of Andy’s extensive experience in fashion, marketing and creative commercial industries.
The Bourbong Street shopfront features a photography studio with infinity wall, make-up station, change room and workstation for professional fashion, product and commercial photography and a retail space with upmarket labels.
Under the Knights Creative brand, Andy has also established a modelling agency to nurture local talent, and a creative content agency to connect local creative professionals with businesses and clients.
“There was no modelling agent in Bundaberg, and when I wanted to hire talent for all this work, I thought ‘we need to add that on’,” he said.
Models will be signed up to the agency for free, and there has already been a lot of interest from locals wanting to get into modelling.
Andy’s focus is on nurturing and teaching aspiring models how to enter the industry safely.
“We want to empower guys and girls to be able to go out and know what to expect on a job,” he said.
“There’s a lot of emerging photographers who maybe don’t know industry standards either, so I’m inviting them all in to come and do workshops with me.”
Knights Creative offer free weekly workshops in photography, design and music, open to anyone looking to learn more and build their skills.
For anyone who may want to take their training further, or who is considering a career as a commercial creative, Andy offers advanced and professional level training for a fee.
Offering opportunities for people to develop creative careers in the region is a key factor in Andy’s business model.
“A lot of youngsters want to come up into this creative space but they don’t know how, and you don’t want to have to go off to a metro city to do it, because family is here and it’s an amazing place to live,” he said.
“There’s a good quality of expectation in the region, people want good stuff, and the kids want to learn, they are keen, they are eager.”
“I want to hire photographers and videographers to the agency as well, because I don’t see other photographers as competition, I see them as teammates.”
“Having other photographers under the agency allows individuality.”
Knights Creative workshops commence mid-June, with booking available online, and follow @knightscreative.bundaberg on Instagram for updates.
