We chat to Auckland designer Tabitha Maxwell of Tamaasa.com who designs ethical leather bags and clothing…
We chat to Auckland designer Tabitha Maxwell of Tamaasa.com who designs ethical leather bags and clothing…
So, Tabitha, tell us about your background in design…
Prior to the launch of Tamaasa Clothing I had been exhibiting steel work paintings as an artist and sculptural pieces for ten years in galleries while also working in creative industries such as Costume design and jewellery design here in NZ. I worked in a family run business designing jewellery and decor overseas which then was imported into NZ with James my partner joining me on some of these overseas trips to Indonesia sourcing jewellery and designing it.
Who designs your beautiful prints?
The prints which feature on our bags, dresses and tees are all hand sketched by myself, photographed by our photographer and then reworked into screens for hand printing, as a part our our artists range.
How did you begin Tamaasa?
Tamaasa was foundered by myself Tabitha Maxwell, and my partner James Bristow in 2010, just really because we love to create and were messing around with knitwear one summer in amongst making cheese and mucking about. We had a few knitting beds and used to invite friends over, have a wine and play around with the machines – creating some disasterous knitting – until eventually my mother who owned a knitwear label back in the 80’s came on board. She started creating some samples for us from our designs, which were then recreated by a knitting master we found who works in the industry creating handknits for set designs and designer labels. James is a trained musician and artist and I have a background in both the arts and fashion design. I graduated with a bachelor from Whitecliffe College in 2007 and then went on to study again in 2009 at NZ Fashion Tech, and during my time of study also I did some work on Outrageous Fortune as well as gaining workroom experience with such labels as Cybele and Misty Lang here in NZ.
How does the design process evolve?
Primarily now I design and James works with our sales but we both have influence in the design process and I will work together with him on samples before they get okayed to see if he likes the direction. Its always really interesting getting his opinion on something because our aethetic is very different and he often pushes the artists prints and things while I try to keep things more simple so it is a nice balance.
Tell us about your environmental approach…
We decided to start the business slowly over time by starting with our Alpaca knitwear which James designed in order to develop a strong idea for what we really believed in within the industry. This led both myself and James to be strongly pulled toward to the eco sector because of our shared love of nature. We worked over the next two years to source materials, local and international production methods and networks that all felt suitably environmentally-friendly to us while I worked with labels such as Brooklyn Zoo Clothing and Jane Daniels design. From there, James and I decided to go full into launching more than an accessories range, and we launched our full collection which got picked up here and internationally in our first season which was our latest hybrid range //13.
How do you support local NZ industry?
From working in the industry in NZ, and also travelling overseas for design with my family-run business, I have found such a wealth of amazing artisians that really hold the manufacturing sector together. We try wherever possible to support NZ manufacturers as the knowledge and the skill base they have is huge, and frankly the people I have met are so facinating and skilled, it makes my job so much easier as an designer and I love interacting with the manufacturers on every piece.
Where do you source materials?
Unfortunately environmental fabrics are quite hard to source from NZ so a lot of our bamboo silks, organic cottons and peace silks are sourced from either Australia or India with our organic merino coming from the mill here in NZ. I think the eco sector is definitely developing but we have to look for new fabrics well in advance of anything we want to work with because it often takes quite a few swatches before we find something absolutely perfect that we know is ethically made. We primarily try with leather to get upcycled or end of line pieces. There is so much waste fabric in the industry that is still perfectly beautiful and gets discarded season after season so we try to take advantage of that as well.
For more information and to shop online see www.tamaasa.com
Megan Robinson, 23 September 2013
Photos Kevin Robinson
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