We LOVE Elk ❤️

When people walk in to Good Thing for a birthday card and get side-tracked by beautiful clothes, we are not surprised.  Our aim is to have pieces women fall in love with and our favourite brand for making women feel gorgeous is Elk, which hails from Melbourne, Australia.

In Melbourne Elk has three beautiful stand-alone stores but is also a wholesaler, supplying the Elk brand to select independent retailers across Australia, New Zealand and other locations around the world.  The clothing pieces are wonderfully wearable, versatile and unique, with signature Elk detailing which make each piece into something special.  

But beyond the clothing is Elk’s ongoing commitment to sustainable and ethical production and processes…the simple fact is that we feel good about stocking Elk, proud of their processes and relationships with their producers and confident in their commitment to constantly improve their business for the end-to-end experience, from the materials used, the producers involved and the customer experience… and in the end the planet. And when you buy better clothing not only do you enjoy wearing it and feel good about your purchase, but your item has a life beyond you…it will be pounced on if you pass it to a charity or a recycled clothing store. 

Elk has been with us right from the first moment we opened the doors to Good Thing back in 2015.  We had come across Elk previously on trips to Australia and loved its difference and originality - a slightly left of mainstream aesthetic.  When we decided to open Good Thing, Elk was on the top of our hit list of brands we wanted to represent. 

Initially we stocked the bags, wallets and jewellery, loving the distinctively different pieces, all at an achievable price point and great quality.  We never intended to go into a clothing line but as we found out it’s best to never say never!  The clothes and shoes worked beautifully with the jewellery and leather pieces and we knew our customers would love the styles, which combine classic with a twist.

Five + years on and our mutual love affair with Elk continues.  Each season when we head to the clothing viewing we wonder how they can top the previous styles but waiting for us is another beautiful collection of exciting, thoughtful pieces, all designed to be infinitely wearable and all loving of women’s bodies.

At the viewing we try on all the clothes and envisage how our customers would wear each piece.  We’ve fitted clothes to every different body shape and size over the years and are always on the lookout for pieces that look good on all our customers - taller women or more petite shapes, those with bigger busts, or tummies and arms they want to hide, legs or waists they want to emphasise, and those with a classic understated style or others who love something edgy and some gorgeous colour and pattern. 

Let’s just say at Good Thing our take-home pay is significantly lightened when there are new Elk arrivals and we all succumb to temptation yet again!  But aside from the beauty of the clothing, there are so many other reasons to love Elk. 

Here’s a few of our ‘we ❤️ Elk’ moments:

• Elk is committed to being the best business they can be, outlined in its 2025 company goals and its annual Transparency Report that you can read here https://nz.elkthelabel.com/pages/transparency-report
• We love Elk’s inclusiveness with sizing.  The sizing ranges from XXS to XXL or in other pieces from a 6-18.  Some of the more flowing pieces could fit a larger size again.  This means we can fit lots of different body shapes and make a wide range of women feel gorgeous and stylish in new season fashion.
• We love that Elk works with several family-owned factories and cares about those people.  In many cases production relationships are into the second decade and are cross generational with family-owned companies.
• We love the fact that Elk give back and make life better for so many through their support.
• We love the fact that Marnie and Adam, Elk founders, still work actively in the business and take a strong interest in everything that happens with it.  Marnie and her team even visited Good Thing when they were in New Zealand shooting all the imagery for the Solace collection.  That was a buzz!
• We love the colour and pattern that always feature in each collection…it just makes you feel good.
• We love the commitment to natural and sustainable fibres.
• We love that you can mix up pieces across the seasons and you’ll still be quintessentially Elk…they know their look and their customer. 

As a bit of a back story, Elk was started by husband and wife team Marnie Goding and Adam Koniaras in 2004, with an initial focus on jewellery that soon expanded rapidly into the brand we know today.  Some of the early pieces have since become Elk staples and form part of the ongoing stockroom catalogue of perennial clothing and footwear favourites, and winner bags, wallets and jewellery. 

As the Elk business has grown, honesty and transparency remain fundamental values and at Good Thing we certainly feel that in all our dealings with Elk.  Elk is the largest small-business donator to UNICEF Australia, a charity partner chosen because of its work in the regions where Elk has a strong manufacturing base, such as India, where Elk’s leather goods are largely produced, and the Philippines, where the bulk of Elk’s wooden jewellery is made from sustainable timbers. 

To read more about the people behind Elk, we love this piece on Marnie by The Grace Tales http://thegracetales.com/tale-marnie-goding/.  We also loved the sneak peek at her home too - no surprise that creativity runs through every aspect of her life.

In short we love Elk… and we think you will too.  Let us help you find some pieces that you will love for years to come.  All our Elk clothing is on our online store or pop in and find your crush piece or if you’re already an ‘Elk-y’ then check out the new season pieces and continue that love affair!