J
ustin Bobyn didn’t exactly have a regular
childhood. While other kids were idolising
He-Man and begging to be taken to Wonderland
(the one in Canada, where he grew up), he was
fanning over Leonardo da Vinci and dreaming
of wandering through the Louvre. Growing up with
an artistic mother and an engineer for a dad will do
that to you. Now, the self-described doctor/designer/
maker lives in Australia and to say his adulthood
continues to be irregular would be an understatement.
With his backwards cap and Nike Flyknits, the
34-year-old doesn’t fit the image of an orthopaedic
surgeon (his actual profession). But that’s not where
the anomalies end. Bobyn has just returned from
Paris where instead of an operating theatre he found
himself in a fashion showroom, there to present his
small collection of incredibly engineered accessories,
including his signature brass screw bangles –
a destined-for-cult-status answer to the signet ring –
to some of the world’s biggest retailers, including
Matches Fashion and Asia’s leading department
store Lane Crawford. “I was like, ‘Lance Crawford?
Who’s Lance Crawford!’” he laughs.
Fashion is admittedly not his world, but creating
things is in his DNA. And a passion that started
out with making his own toys as a kid has
turned into a love of using his hands, whether he’s
mending a broken fibula or crafting one of the
many pieces in his personal collection- from Donald Judd-inspired desks
for his workshop to iPad covers,
perspex lamps and copious amounts
of cutlery (despite the fact he eats
out most nights). “My dad’s
a biomedical engineer so I grew up around bones
and metals and tools. In our family we talk about the
principles of engineering and things like that at
the dinner table so it’s always in my head.”
A few years back, a project designing a bone
implant for children required Bobyn to teach himself
3D design, and that enabled him to take his hobby to
the next level. “I started designing highly detailed,
very accurate 3D design stuff. Once I had that skill, it
unlocked all these ideas I’ve had for
ages that I’ve never been able to
make. I get ideas every day, I’ve got
a list, and I just keep them until
I have the right skills, the right
machine or technology catches up so
one man can do it rather than
a factory.” That list currently
numbers 117 ideas from just the past
three months. The highly desirable
screw bangle, which fits the wrist
closely and joins with personalised
letter screws (an innovation Bobyn
has patented, complete with
a custom screwdriver that
utilises hip-replacement
technology), was an idea
he conceived a decade ago.
“I like the idea of things
being handed down from
generation to generation,” says
Bobyn, the fourth in a line of
J Bobyns (or JBs). “Not photos but
real products for people to really
want and really love, respond to
and cherish. Things that have
a story. It’s not about gold or
diamonds, it’s about the design and the making
and the details – something so intrinsic to your
family or lineage that it’s priceless.”
It’s safe to say that unlike Bobyn’s ambitious
undertaking last Christmas – a mini gingerbread
replica of Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Fallingwater
house – his screw bangles and rings, sustainable
buffalo horn eyewear (which also feature the
personalised letter screws) and handcrafted razors
will be gifts sure to stand the test of time. qGOOD
WITH THEIR
HANDS
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This New York-based
expat is one half of the
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The Tasmanian-born,
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...
NEED TO KNOW
56 ELLE AUSTRALIA
Photography: Justin Bobyn; Instagram: @brodieneill; @mcmhouse; @misterflynnGOOD MEDICINE
Justin Bobyn (below) and
some of the unique bangles
and rings he’s created (left)A newcomer combining art and science
is fashion’s unlikely heroOpen bangle, from $200, screw bangle,
from $800, both J Bobyn, justinbobyn.comOpen ring, from $100, screw
ring, from $650, both J Bobyn,
justinbobyn.comTHE NEW INVENTOR