December 2025.
My mum was visiting us. We were at home with my wife, talking, eating, drinking and doing what we have always loved doing together: connecting through food.
My mum and I have always loved food. We love cooking, trying things, sharing meals and, of course, having a good Caipirinha. Somehow, that became the beginning of the Recipe Series.
At first, the idea seemed quite simple. I wanted to create a collection around drinks and food and their recipes. But as with most things I design, the simple idea turned into something that took much longer than expected.
I knew what I wanted the back of the garment to be.
A coaster.
The idea was that the back graphic would look like a coaster sitting underneath your drink.
The front was much harder. I wanted something colourful, a little bold, slightly symmetrical and immediately recognisable. You should be able to look at it and know exactly what drink it was.
I went through quite a few ideas before I finally found something I loved.
And my mum was right there with me (honestly she loved all designs I put in front of her). She was very involved in choosing the drinks. The more classic, old-school cocktails — things like the Daiquiri and Cosmopolitan — were her choices.
So although the idea for the collection was mine, the Recipe Series became something we created together.
And I love that.
A little more about why this collection means so much to me
The Recipe Series came at an interesting time in my life. Before Dart Frog, I had spent years working as a graphic designer and Art Director in Brazil, including working with magazines.
Then life took me somewhere completely different. I became a chef.
In 2024, while I was working as a head chef in Barwon Cafe, my mum was diagnosed with cancer.
It was one of those moments when your whole world changes.
I found myself unable to continue in the kitchen. I couldn't manage people, I couldn't carry the pressure, and eventually I left my job.
My mum went through surgery and treatment, and thankfully, today she is cancer free.
During that period, I was also trying to find my way back into the workforce and back to myself.
Eventually, I found a job as a graphic designer again. And I was incredibly happy to be designing again.
It felt like returning to a part of myself that I had missed.
Then came Dart Frog.
And maybe that's why the Recipe Series feels particularly special to me.
It brought together so many things that have been part of my life:
Design.
Food.
Drinks.
Creativity.
My mum.
And the simple pleasure of sharing something with other people.
Food has always been one of the ways my family connects with people.
You cook something.
You pour a drink.
Someone sits down.
You talk.
You laugh.
You share.
And for a little while, everything feels okay.
That is what I think the Recipe Series is really about.
Friendship. Connection. Love.
Why cocktails?
I think the answer is probably more complicated than it sounds.
Because it isn't really about cocktails.
It's about the things that happen around them.
The conversations.
The dinners.
The celebrations.
The late nights.
The friends who come over.
The family recipes.
The people you meet.
The stories that start with:
“Do you want a drink?”
And maybe that's why the collection felt like the right place to begin.
A recipe is something that can be shared.
Someone gives you their recipe.
You make it your own.
You make it for someone else.
And eventually, it becomes part of another person's story.
I like that.
And then there is my mum.
My mum is my rock.
She has supported me through more than I could possibly put into one Journal entry.
The Recipe Series started with an idea I had, but she helped shape it.
She helped choose the drinks.
She shared the things she loved.
And, most importantly, she was there.
That's something I will always carry with me.
So when I look at the Recipe Series now, I don't just see a collection of T-shirts.
I see a moment in my life.
I see my family together.
I see Caipirinhas.
I see food on the table.
I see conversations.
I see a little bit of the person I was before, the person I became, and the person I was trying to find again.
And that's probably why this collection will always have a special place in Dart Frog.
It started with a drink.
But it became something much bigger.
Friendship. Connection. Love.
And maybe that's what clothes can do sometimes.
They can carry a little piece of a story with them.
Cheers.