Anya Brighouse asks 30 years worth of questions to Zambesi’s Neville Findlay on their quarter-century anniversary of the iconic NZ label, in an interview at New Zealand’s inaugural Fashion Festival where Zambesi closed the catwalk show with their Winter 2010 collection, Enigma…
It is not often, if ever, that you get to sit down with a designer you truly admire. And to sit down and ask pretty much any questions you like, well, that is a real rarity. I got to talk with Neville Finlay, from Zambesi, just before his successful showing at this year inaugural Fashion Festival. As someone who gets to review collections of clothing, just as they are, I wish I knew more about the things that dove the collections, the reasoning behind certain decisions. This time I got to ask all my questions, and in my case, they were pretty much 30 years worth of questions. I have loved Zambesi clothing since my early 20’s right when Zambesi started. Even then.
And now years later – I love them as much. But how is that possible, that a label that works for a 20 year old, can also work for someone in her 40’s? And that it can continue for the length of time that it has without losing it intrinsic core? Neville feels this is firmly down to his wife Liz, that she has such a singularity of vision, that she knows where she is moving forward to, but understands about linking it to the past. It is very common in a Zambesi show to see a garment that could be any age – 10, 15 years old, re-made in another fabric – but essentially the same garment. And it fits as well with the collection it is in now, as the one it did in the past. Her/their over riding philosophy is that it is all one, big, long collection… that explained to me the obvious cohesion in the many collections. I have pieces that at 8, 9 years old – and they are easily worn with newer pieces.
He mentioned that they also don’t design ‘outfits’. That each piece is designed in it’s own right, within the larger context. It is part of a large story, but they very much write their own rules…This can sometimes be a little unpopular, as we would like Zambesi to keep repeating the pieces we like – and it would follow that this would be a more profitable way to run a business, but sometimes Liz just makes the pieces she wants – regardless of whether they are seen to be ‘commercial’ enough. It is about moving the label forward.
That is integrity. This is obvious especially, in the new winter 10 collection. Zambesi have quietly moved away from the silk, drape, and sequins that have been their staple, to a more constructed, tailored feel. Neville felt this was because Liz, is always moving forward, and doesn’t want to replay idea simply because they are safe, expected. That would never be Zambesi… Part of this ethic is apparent in the fact that they hold all their patterns in their archive. But they aren’t just in storage. You can ask for any piece to be made, in a similar fabric to the original, from any collection. It is a rare opportunity to keep those pieces; ever after we have loved them to an early grave. I have had one op that is a wardrobe staple for me, re-made 3 times over many years. I couldn’t do without it!
I was interested to know the changes he had seen in the fashion industry in his 25 years at the helm of Zambesi (he referred to his wife as the heart of Zambesi and himself as just the van driver). I think we forget that it hasn’t always been the vibrant, confident beast we know it is today. He mentioned that when they first started many designers just went to Europe, bought pieces of clothing, bought them back, and copied them. That was considered fashion. Zambesi refused to do that – and from the very beginning they did it their own way. Marilyn Sainty was another who, at he same time, did her own designs.
Again, it goes back to integrity. It was something that put them in good stead (tho not right at the beginning) when they took the label to Australia. So much so, that they are having a retrospective at their store in Flinders Ave in Melbourne. It is a smaller version of the 25-year retrospective they did at the very end of Fashion Week 09, and it is first time it has been shown outside of New Zealand. They would have loved to have taken the entire show there – but it wasn’t to be. They continue to be one of the few labels that have such longevity, as many other designers have thrown in the towel, or shifted their production off shore, something Zambesi will never do. They are proud that their clothes are manufactured here, not that they have a big sign on the front door proclaiming it, but rather, it is just another part of what makes it all work for them. It is a label rooted in NZ.
I asked if they had their 30 years again, what would they do differently? Neville felt that even though their clothes are stocked in many places around the world, and they have stores in Australia, that he would have loved to have spread their wings a bit more, and opened a store in New York. He also mentioned that this could still happen – and of course it could!
When asking who he was the most impressed by currently, he spoke of Rick Owens and Belgium designer Martin Margiela. They are both designers that fit/sit well with the Zambesi ethic. Margiela in particular is the master of understatement/over statement. His shoes are a particular favourite of mine. Both designers are stocked in their stores. Liz seems to have an uncanny knack of choosing pieces from their collections to work with the Zambesi clothing. She seems to have a real skill at this – at knowing what her clients at home, will want. They are also pieces that need a certain amount of confidence to wear. In terms of New Zealand designers, Margarita Robertson from NomD share a similar design ethic, if not a different end product to Zambesi. This could be because Marg and Liz are sisters. There is a lot that they learnt from their seamstress Mother about the overall process. Alexandra Owen is a newer designer to watch, in his opinion.
Did he have anything to say to young, would-be designers? He accepted that there was some REAL talent out there bubbling away, but that many of them wouldn’t make it simply because the industry itself was so small. One of the possible keys to success would be getting to the point of opening their own store.
This is, above all, a family business, with Neville and Liz, and their two daughters, Marissa and Sophia. Marissa produces the runway shows, and Sophia is a talented video editor in her own right, who is responsible for the music. She has a vast collection of music to call from, and seems to have an uncanny knack of knowing what to use. There is no real process about it, it just happens in the middle of day-to-day things, of being a family. Somehow this just doesn’t surprise me!
By Anya Brighouse, 16 March 2010.
Photo of Anya and Neville, Rebecca Zwitser.
Catwalk photos, Kevin Robinson.
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