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A year of only buying New Zealand fashion

A year of only buying New Zealand fashion August 2, 2014Fashion, Fashion Industry0 Comments

I have a growing obsession with buying New Zealand fashion design.

Early this year, while in the throes of planning a complete overhaul of my wardrobe (I was possibly having a third-life crisis), I came across a piece online in which World’s Francis Hooper called for shoppers to think about what they’re buying, in the context of growing awareness of mass sweatshop manufacture and the underpaid and exploited workers who make the cheap, fast fashion imports that we just throw away.

I decided to take that as a challenge and this year committed to only buying New Zealand design. I wanted to be part of a movement of shoppers stepping away from disposable fashion.

I want New Zealand designers to thrive.

It sounds virtuous, but I love New Zealand design and I want New Zealand designers to thrive. I did think about whether I could extend it to New Zealand made design, but then considered that a lot of our design is manufactured offshore – because the technical skills have left, manufacturing plant or processes necessary to bring designs to life is no longer available or boutique manufacture is simply not viable. I want to understand more about how this is happening. I want those skills, those jobs and that quality to stay or even come back, and as a first step for me that means throwing support behind the industry.

Ask yourself, who made your clothes.

As much as possible, as part of making myself more aware of where new additions to my wardrobe are coming from, I wanted to consider how and where items were made (if they aren’t locally made, are they ethically made? Fair trade?) and why they may have been made offshore. My primary focus though was to stick with fashion that started its journey here.

Relationships, communication, and loyalty.

Spending more time considering local design has pushed me beyond my usual haunts and I think this commitment will go well beyond this year for me. It’s become a real project and I’m increasingly passionate about hunting out and sticking with New Zealand design. I’ve met or communicated with a number of designers in various contexts and that too is cementing my loyalty to local brands and labels. Building my relationship with established designers has been satisfying, and I’ve generally found their support for their customers to be amazing. It’s a pleasure to be loyal to them. And I’ve tried garments by known designers that I’ve never tried before, because they’re New Zealand designers, and every new discovery feels like a win.

Below: Kowtow

The Lean Closet Movement.

I’ve also gone on to treating this project as a two part gig, considering the throwaway fashion aspect just as carefully. Recently I read about the Lean Closet Movement which encourages the buying of fewer, better things (and donating surplus and unused items to those in need). This of course also means more carefully-considered purchases in the first place and steering clear of throwaway fashion. Years ago, I read somewhere that most people only wear 20% of their wardrobe. It seemed incredible, but I was curious.

Most people only wear 20% of their wardrobe.

So, I put it to the test … and realised I had a wardrobe full of sale buys, things that would ‘do’, and that I had no concept of my personal style, and that it was true for me. I sold everything but the 20% I was actually wearing (thereby also identifying my basic personal style), and then took the money from the 80% and bought a much smaller wardrobe of key pieces. The quality of items has slowly climbed in the years since, and the days I’m either slowly building my wardrobe or just simply replacing and I wear everything. Or at least, that’s what happens until I have a third life crisis and I create a new wardrobe.

Kowtow, Taylor Boutique, and In-Use Denim.

The highlights so far? There was a first ever purchase from Kowtow, the Low Crotch Building Block Pant which I cannot even begin to convey my adoration of (pictured above). There was a stunning winter season at Taylor Boutique, who helped me make a strong start (and then kept me going!), and I’ve been victorious over two persistent nemeses, jeans and shoes. I found jeans one day while staring blankly across a Paekakariki road, enjoying a coffee in the sunshine, realising that I was staring at a manufacturing boutique jeans store.

Jeans and I have a constant cycle – always compromising, becoming quickly frustrated because they’re not really right, discarding, wasting. It’s expensive landfill. But with the help of designer/maker Nina Preston of In-Use Denim, I found a style and those babies were made to measure in a way that you just can’t when buying imports off the rack, with a few tweaks to fit exactly how I wanted them. I love those jeans. Oh, how I love them. A perfect boyfriend fit for my figure, which doesn’t usually fit that style, and they’re exactly what I want.

I discovered Katie Revie of REVIE Shoes.

Discovering REVIE shoes was a particularly good moment and I think we’re going to become very good friends. I really thought shoes were going to be my undoing this year, but REVIE’s classic, beautiful silhouettes saved me (full disclosure, there was a pair of Italian made winter boots I got during Wellington Fashion Week, but I’m making amends, I promise.) Now two years into her REVIE venture, I was interested in designer Katie Revie’s perspective. REVIE is no longer a brand new label, but is still working its way into an established position, from first officially launching online, then further introducing the label through a pop up store, allowing her to start building customer relationships, before moving into bricks and mortar retail.

I asked Katie Revie, is brand establishment in the local market difficult?

“Fashion is definitely a difficult industry. Being such a small country at the bottom of the world means you need to capture a larger percentage of the population to be sustainable. Consumers tend to lean towards brands they know and are familiar with.”

And with that, it feels even more important, more satisfying to stay local. REVIE is also one such label where manufacture happens offshore too because of both a demise of craft and a demise of industry. Her leather shoes are handmade in Indonesia where there is a supply of high grade leather, a strong artisan culture and boutique manufacture is possible. She also has a passion for quality and sustainability – her leather soled shoes can be repaired, thereby giving them a longer life.

So, this year of New Zealand design? It’s going great. Winter’s been a blast, and full of wins. Next up, Spring/Summer, and I’m already planning. I’m still as excited about this project as I was at the beginning.

By Simonne Walmsley
1st August 2014