I’ve always liked that John F Kennedy quote, Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” On a similar note, I’ve been thinking about this in the context of taking a long view on supporting NZ fashion industry.
When I was younger I was a lot more selfish. I’d go to fashion shows to see what I would wear myself, and enjoy rifling through goodybags for chocolates and mascaras.
Now, after 14 years of covering fashion shows on Thread in particular New Zealand Fashion Week itself, I am taking a longer view and trying to be a bit less selfish and instead think about about not what I can get out of it, but about what I can give back.
I just commented on a question by Matthew Beveridge on BloggersBrunchClub’s Facebook page that prompted this post. He asked who is going to fashion week, and I replied that “I will get whole-heartedly behind NZFW and Marr Factory this month and be really positive about supporting local designers and encourage my readers to shop NZ or we won’t have a local industry left as everything becomes increasingly imported. This is a strong focus of my website and values.”
A disclaimer to this is I still won’t rave on about shows I didn’t like, and I am never going to like local labels that buy overseas garments to take them apart and copy them.
The danger of course in supporting something whole-heartedly is that you might dilute your views and no-one gains from everything being called “awesome”. Everything that’s being made here simply isn’t awesome. I shall be raving about the stuff that is.
To survive here with the advent of imports, with ASOS deliveries and TopShop opening on Queen Street, we need to have a clear point of difference, and a unique focus and flavour. These brands, and the ones I will be supporting, and are the future of NZ fashion design. Here’s to them.
Read Simonne Walmsley’s A year of only buying New Zealand fashion on Thread here.
Intro image Juna menswear, photo by Nikau Hinden.
Megan Robinson
5th August 2014
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