Fashion Week's class of 2008!
All you need to know about every designer showing at Fashion Week this year
There’s a stellar line-up in store for Air New Zealand Fashion Week this year. A mixture of established, up-and-coming and now international designers means the week will be one of the best and busiest yet. But just who are all of these designers? What do they do and what’s their style? To clarify everything for you, we’ve rounded up all of the designers showing at Fashion Week this year. Find out where they’re from, the looks they create and a little bit of their history in our dapper designer guide!
Megan Bedford and Chloe de Ridder 06/08/08
Alexandra Owen
Wellington-based designer Alexandra Owen has started to carve out a name for herself, after a successful debut show at Fashion Week last year. Her Spring/Summer collection also earned a rave review on LA-based website, Gen Art Pulse. Owen’s designs are smart and sleek, and she pays close attention to cut and shape.
Ana Steele
In 2006 Ana Steele opened a workroom and retail showroom, PattisonSteele, with fellow designer Michael Pattison. This Grey Lynn showroom became the birthplace of Steele's debut collection. Her style is dark and mysterious with a touch of sophistication and glamour.
Annah Stretton
Designer Annah Stretton is renowned for putting on controversial runway shows. In 2004 at Fashion Week she caused a raucous when she put a boar’s head on a bridal model, and in 2005 she used drag queens on the catwalk. The successful Morrisville-based designer creates colourful, wearable pieces for the every day woman, sold through her 30 New Zealand stores. Along with her main Annah Stretton line, she also has two diffusion lines - Annah S and Garb.
Basquesse
Created and designed by Viviana Pannell, Basquesse designs, manufactures and retails its garments in Wellington. The label uses a wide variety of shapes, fabrics and textures to create its tailored womenswear. They also create one-off pieces for special occasions: bridal, mother-of-the-bride, mother-of-the-groom, and ball gowns.
Chelsea Thorpe
Chelsea Thorpe is a Gisborne-based designer. She stocks her range in her own shop, Modern Lovers, alongside the likes of Kate Sylvester and Deborah Sweeney. Her look is a sweet fusion between edgy and pretty.
Crowded Elevator
Crowded Elevator has a new take on cool street wear. The label is young, bright and full of energy. The collection started with distinctively cut tees with eclectic neon graphics and catchy slogans in retro fonts, but now include hoodies, a wider range of fabrics and a selection of new style singlets. They’ve also teamed up with artists such as Otis Frizzell and Enuake Sirikige for a limited edition Creative Collection.
Cybele
Auckland-based designer Cybele Wiren received some very good reviews for her debut solo-show in 2005. Since then she’s gone from strength to strength, and has a garnered a following of fans who love her designs and bold signature prints. Cybele makes clothes that are in equal measures original, clever, pretty, sexy and very much of the moment. Her look for Spring/Summer 08/09 is a dreamy and ethereal collection.
Deadly Ponies
This local accessories label creates quirky jewellery and unique leather handbags. Their innovative designs have seen the brand build a worldwide reputation with their singular artisan aesthetic. They create large collections of bags in a variety of colour ways – so there’s lots to choose from.
Deborah Sweeney
Wellington designer Deborah Sweeney has been dubbed “the next Karen Walker” due to her cool, vintage-inspired style. Her clever designs are a feminine, eclectic and colourful mix of casual and tailored silhouettes. Sweeney began her line in 2002 upon returning from London where she worked designing for High St stores such as Top Shop and H&M. Her show at Fashion Week last year was a favourite with fashion editors.
Deuchar
Mount Maunganui designer Kellie Chapman says her Deuchar label reflects her French heritage and unabashed love of fabrics. The brand new range, that pairs European styling with flattering and wearable designs, will show as part of the Verge Breakthrough Group at this year’s Fashion Week.
DOOSH
Doosh is a label that reaches out to the 18-30-year-old urban creative music-lovers with funky printed T-shirts, denim, high fashion tops and knits, everlasting drill and stylish men’s shirts.
Emma
Designer Emma Wallace is a first-timer at Fashion Week. She hails from Wellington and used to be the design assistant to Zana Feuchs. This has allowed her to fill the gap in Wellington for practical yet feminine and stylish clothing that women can wear for all occasions. She launched her label in 2006.
FourFountaine
Brothers Mark and Nick Hurley founded the FourFontaine brand in 2003. The original collection of FourFountaine T-shirts were made and sold to the local surf shop where the response was great. A small range of guys and girls tees and hoodies was produced and sold around the top of the North Island with and handful of stores deciding to try the label out. Now creating a complete range of relaxed casuals including jeans and kids printed tees, the label recently opened a flagship store on shopping mecca Nuffield Street in Newmarket.
Hailwood
Clothing is now his forte, but designer Adrian Hailwood used to be a graphic designer. His design background is still evident through the bold prints in his collections. He does both men’s and womenswear – and creates a sexy, wearable style for women in particular.
Huffer
Streetwear label Huffer has really developed a name for itself – creating pieces for skaters, snowboarders and of course city-dwellers. Huffer designers Steve Dunstan and Dan Buckley say their experimentation as a brand travels across its 3 ranges: Function (purpose-built snowboarding styles), Collection (experimentation, fashion, ‘out of control newness!’) and Colour (classic styles - sweatshirting, tees, denim and drill – reinterpreted seasonally in a different colour palette).
Jaeha
He’s only 21, but designer Jaeha Alex Kim wowed the fashion set with his 2007 Fashion Week show, Zip Me Up After You’re Finished – inspired by Edward Scissorhands. The Jaeha label is experimental with a touch of futuristic flair - directional and refreshing, exploring new shapes and styles. Hard to believe, but he only graduated from AUT in 2006. His summer range, Colouring In Calms Me Down, is also set to be a hit.
Juliette Hogan
Young Auckland-based designer Juliette Hogan creates beautiful and sophisticated clothes. Her designs are subtle and elegant – there are plenty of pretty and wearable dresses as well as elegant suiting.
Karen Walker
Karen Walker is arguably one of the most iconic New Zealand designers – having enjoyed great success both here and overseas. Walker not only designs clothing, she also puts out eyewear, jewellery and paint. Each season she delivers us two collections, her main line, and the cheaper, more denim-focused range, Runaway. Walker also puts out two high summer ranges each year. She’s renowned for her vintage-cool style, and ability to throw certain garments together to create a truly unique look. Now, Walker has also collaborated with Myer to put out a diffusion line, Hi There.
Kirrily Johnston
Kirrily Johnston is the first ever Australian designer to show at New Zealand Fashion Week. Johnston’s show will be a very exciting addition to the week, particularly after her successful nomadic-inspired collection at Australian Fashion Week this year, titled Modern Nomad.
Liz Mitchell
Liz Mitchell is a designer high on drama and glamour. She creates ready-to-wear fashion as well as bridal-wear – and enjoyed a bit of the spotlight when she dressed young New Zealand actress Keisha Castle Hughes for the Oscars.
Lonely Hearts
Lonely Hearts may have dropped the ‘Club’ from their name, but they haven’t dropped anything in the style stakes. The label has enjoyed two particularly good seasons, with a stand-out show at last year’s Fashion Week and a gorgeous Beetlejuice-inspired summer range. We’re excited to see what they will bring to the runways this year.
Lucie Boshier
Colourful, fun and sexy are the words Lucie Boshier uses to describe her design style. Through her Nuffield St store Boshier sells her printed, beaded, and frilled dresses and separates that could be described as anything but minimalist. She also celebrates women’s figures with her design shapes.
Michael Pattison
Designer Michael Pattison isn’t one to hide his light under a bushel. At his New Zealand Fashion Week debut in 2005, he strode the catwalk as a model for his own show. Since then, he’s opened a store in Grey Lynn selling his designs, which span the working world from dress casual through to corporate and special occasion wear.
Michelle Yvette
Since young designer Michelle Yvette’s first collection hit the stores in late 2006 she has been developing her range of separates for the fun-loving and casual woman. This year will be her first appearance at Fashion Week.
Moneyshot
Streetwear label Moneyshot is world famous in New Zealand for their witty (and sometimes controversial) T-shirt prints, as well as hoodies, shirts and jeans for guys and girls. Now, in its 8th year, Moneyshot is producing a complete collection of garments that embody the underground street culture. The label’s pieces are often seen on the backs of the country’s hip-hop and rap artists.
NOM*d
Hailing from Dunedin, NOM*d has a distinctly dour and directional gothic edge that sets it apart as fashion label with a cult following among the fashion set. Dunedin is the home of indie music, and NOM*d’s high casual aesthetic references influences ranging from punk rock to knitwear and reinvented vintage suiting. The label is a favourite each year at New Zealand Fashion Week with their high concept shows. Designer Margarita Robertson is the sister of Zambesi designer Elisabeth Findlay and the sisters share a similar European aesthetic.
Nyne
Based in Hamilton, Nyne is a range of separates for men and women designed to be layered, achieving ‘uncomplicated deconstruction’. The dresses, printed tees, shirts and jeans that make up the range stick closely to a simple, dark and moody colour palette. Set up in September 2004 by director/designers Tina Patrick, Miranda Dawson and Jacob Scott-Simmonds, Nyne is sold in retailers throughout the country as well the designers’ own store The White Room in Hamilton.
Ooby Ryn
Cambridge-based designer Robyn Brooks designs clothes under the guise of Ooby Ryn. Brooksis a photographer with a passion for design, using bright colours and prints to create strong illustrative pieces.
Paula Ryan
Fashion doyenne Paula Ryan began her range of monochromatic separates with a five piece capsule range in 1998. Today, Ryan continues to focus on simple wardrobe basics made with high quality fabrics and construction. “The criteria are comfort, performance and stretch. The magic is in the fabric,” Ryan says of her range.
Sable & Minx
Sable & Minx is a new boutique streetwear label from well-established clothing company Urban Creative, who is also the maker of Doosh streetwear. Owner and designer, Steven Ingram, has teamed up with Theresa Brady to create the range of ‘sophisticated urban-wear’. Brady likes to take on classics like high-waisted skirts, blazers, shirts and fitted pants making them wearable and durable for young New Zealand women.
Salasai
Salasai is another relatively young label that launched in 2005 with Hawkes Bay based designer Kirsha Whitcher at the helm. Whitcher, formerly a designer at Mooks, describes the label as combining streetwear appeal with high fashion theories. Combining comfort and directional high fashion is the core of this range, mixing vintage with modern design, colour and fabrics.
Sera Lilly
Young Auckland based designer Sera Lilly made a big splash in the local fashion scene after winning the ASB Glam Slam Young Designer competition in 2005. Since then, Lilly has come on in leaps and bounds, opening her own store on Ponsonby Road last year. Her simple but perfectly finished feminine dresses and tops keep one eye on trends and the other on an enduring signature style.
Sheryl May
Gisborne native Sheryl May began her label while living in London in 2000. Within two years she had it stocked in London boutiques and a stall at London Fashion Week. However the call of home proved too strong, so May packed up and re-started the label in New Zealand. May’s collections are inspired by vintage fabrics and the female style innovators of different eras. Embellished by sequins, beads, embroidery, sash ties and intricate stitching, the panelled construction and A-line framing offers garments that flatter any shape.
Starfish and Laurie Foon
Designers Laurie Foon and Carleen Schollum share an obsession with textiles and colour, and enjoy pushing together opposing elements. The Wellington based designers work on two labels. Starfish is their staple range and each season the designers produce a collection based around feminine functional old favourites, re-invented with new fabrics and twists. The Laurie Foon range is the duo’s more directional, grown-up and thematic range.
Stitch Ministry
Launched in late 2006 by designers Kylee Davis (ex Insidious Fix) and Jason Gitmans (Gitmans Knitwear) Stitch Ministry is a designer streetwear label specialising in knitwear. The label uses New Zealand merino wool as well as durable fabrics and denim to create their range of men’s and women’s clothing.
Stolen Girlfriends Club
The cool kids of the fashion industry are likely to be the ones who throw out all the rules and yet they still manage to present a tight and unique interpretation of the season’s trends. Modern art and pop culture are heavily referenced in the designs of SGC’s Marc Moore, Luke Harwood and Zara Mirkin. Denim, jersey, sweatshirting and printed tees are the mainstays of their collections – along with cheeky slogans each season.
Tav
Based in the Cook Islands, Ellena Tavioni designs this range of clothing with a strong Pacific flavour.
Trelise Cooper
Trelise Cooper is one of the most recognisable fashion personalities in New Zealand. Her clothes are instantly identifiable with their exhaustive detailing, in highly-tailored combinations of lace, florals, spots, stripes and whatever else the season’s key themes may be. And then there is Cooper herself – with her curly blonde tresses bright lipstick and colourful dress sense. With an annual turnover in the millions and garments sold in boutiques in around the world, the Trelise Cooper brand is a Kiwi fashion success story.
Trelise Cooper Kids
In 2006 Trelise Cooper decided to take her signature style of tailored pieces and luxe fabrics and shrink them down a few sizes. But it wasn’t supermodels she was targeting, it was those notoriously hard-to-please customers - little girls aged 3-9 years old. Since Cooper opened her Trelise Cooper Kids store in Newmarket shopping hub Nuffield Street, the playfully colourful brand has gone from strength to strength. The pint-sized stars of her Fashion Week shows are always a hit with the normally stony faced fashion pack.
Twentysevennames
Young label twentysevennames (formerly known as love-lies-bleeding) is designed by Rachel Easting and Anjali Stewart, who cite contemporary art as the design inspiration for their collections. In 2006, the pair was awarded a place in the Deutz Fashion Design Ambassador Award. The label debuted in a group show at New Zealand Fashion Week 2007 where the collection was received with interest from fashion editors. Twentysevennames continues to play with themes of androgyny, while tying together the formal and informal; the serious and the humorous. Their spring/summer collection is a gorgeous combination of Parisian and sailor-chic.
World
No other New Zealand brand has a personality quite like World. Designers Denise L’Estrange-Corbet and Francis Hooper have carved their own fashion niche with garments made with intense, often clashing colour combinations and unique fabrics. Well known for their spectacular fashion shows, they have been absent from New Zealand Fashion Week for the past couple of years but are back on the runway in 2008.
Yvonne Bennetti
Designer Yvonne Bennetti has been showing her luxurious and feminine collections at New Zealand Fashion Week for several years now. Bennetti, a former textile designer, favours opulent colours, intricate detailing, metallics and sequins for her popular dresses, slips and coats. Her outfits are favourites of ladies who lunch, dine and dance. Bennetti also designs her own brand of shoes.
Zambesi
Designer Elisabeth Findlay and her team have been creating collections most often described as ‘dark and intellectual’ for almost 30 years. Their European aesthetic, a love of fabric and a willingness to experiment with the way that clothes are worn are the fingerprints of Zambesi that endure through each season’s collections. Their Spring/Summer collection marks their 30th anniversary – happy birthday!