Housed in a 1920s heritage listed building in Malvern, Finch & Lane is a lovely new addition to the Melbourne luxury interiors scene and it has a fabulous online shop too. Owned by husband and wife team Stephanie and David Rew, the couple sell a stylish mix of furniture, homewares and, most notably, rare vintage movie posters or cinema art.
“People enjoy the nostalgia that certain movie titles can bring, they may collect based on a certain star or director, genre and so on or simply because it is beautiful art, which all of the ones we display are!” says David of the posters that are becoming ever more popular as collectibles.
“As a decor item in any home or office, they are always a conversation piece and of course what makes them so very special is that they are original. Although there are plenty of reproductions available, a reproduction can never give you that same fuzzy feeling that an original does and, unlike a reproduction, an original vintage movie poster may appreciate in value over time,” says David who cites a movie poster he is currently selling as an example. Bought for $5,000 15 years ago, the poster for the iconic La Dolce Vita is now selling for $38,000. “That said, one doesn’t need to spend that much in our store to enjoy a beautiful collectible, and like anything collectible, you should first buy it because you love it and not what it might be worth one day,” says David who has to resort to quite unorthodox measures to source the posters.
“Movie posters were printed in limited runs specifically for picture theatres to display in and around the theatre either before the film arrived or during the film’s showing season. Generally, once the movie run was over, the posters were thrown away or perhaps returned to the distributor. In other cases a picture theatre owner may have just dumped them ‘out back’ and years later may have had a big clean up and thrown them all out! Other posters have ended up as insulation under floorboards or in walls of homes — I have some in my collection that were just that! Collectors can go years and years waiting and hoping for certain titles to turn up and sometimes they just never do.”
In addition to the posters, Finch & Lane sell gorgeous furniture (named after old movie stars) featuring intricate joinery and upholstery detailing. “We import all our furniture and most of our accessories. We work with bespoke manufacturers who make limited runs for us so that our customers are buying relatively unique pieces.” They source American oak and Belgian linen to create pieces ideal for creating a New York loft meets Parisian apartment vibe.
“As far as design goes, we wanted to ensure that our pieces are luxurious as well as being designed to last. Therefore, in all of our upholstered furniture we have incorporated features such as solid oak frames in our sofas and chairs, duck feather or memory foam inserts as filling and removable slip covers on all pieces to ensure ease of dry cleaning and care, making our pieces functional, luxurious and enduring,” says Stephanie.
Shop here.