Wellington Fashion Diary

After a shaky start to the flight getting here, Thread landed at Wellington airport and hit the ground running for Fashion Week in the Capital. Here’s our diary of highlights…

After a shaky start to the flight getting here, Thread landed at Wellington airport and hit the ground running for Fashion Week in the Capital.

Here’s our diary of highlights…

It all started a few weeks back, with the model casting for Wellington Fashion Week at Te Papa.

Our Wellington writer Reema Alfouir and photographer Fraser Crichton covered this.

So after a rocky landing from Jetstar and getting dressed in the airport toilets (fashion is ALL glamour) we raced in to the city centre, dropped our bags literally at Museum Hotel reception and headed into the tent. Fashion Week is in a purpose-erected tent that is a good size and has worked really well.

First, I had a make-up touch up by Phoenix Cosmetics artist Maria thanks to Colgate who are launching a whitening toothpaste called Optic White, and did media make-ups in a container box outside the tent.

Fashion weeks on the whole like to kick off with a bang not a whimper and get great press on the first night, and who better than to show than World? It was World’s first ever catwalk show in Wellington and it looked fabulous. Hair by Michael Beel.

Below: Backstage after the show with Francis Hooper of World with models. Shoes were all the Leila court by Number One Shoes.

These are best-dressed women we’ve seen, sitting front row at World.

Some of the many media covering fashion week: Carolyn Enting (Mindfood), Sarah Mitchell (Apparel Magazine) and Julie Roulston.

On Thursday 4th April at 4pm, Kirkcaldies & Stains celebrated 150 years with a showcase of some of its top fashion labels’ AW13 collections, including Mardee, Carlson, Hailwood, and Deryn Schmidt.

Below: Hailwood on the catwalk at Kirkcaldies & Stains on model Courtenay who you will recall from New Zealand’s Next Top Model.

Below: Kirks models after the show.

Retro drinks at Kirkcaldie & Stains show with cute pin-up girls on the tonic water bottles.

Below: model Kyla Jeong of Ink Agency, with her friends Hannah Elks, and Crystal Liu who works at Kotuku Models.

Below: front row at Thursday Group Showcase. This show had a full house and the energy that goes along with that. Shows that are empty feel lukewarm, and perhaps they should give tickets away to customers on the day, to fill the seats up? Retailers love a full house, and it’s more fun for everyone attending, too.

7.00 Group Collections Showcase featured Trelise Cooper, Moochi, twoWORLDs, STORM, Mondegreen, Sabatini at Goodness, and Taylor.

Below: A circus hoop performer opened Mondegreen’s show entitled, ‘Runaway Circus.’

It’s been great to meet some of the Wellington writers and stylists who work down here. Two of the big fashion blogs are www.brightblack.co.nz and NZ Style Collective, who both work with a team of contributers who are extremely dedicated and passionate. From chatting to quite a few of them, it appears there just aren’t catwalk shows and launches on to cover in the capital as the head offices and PR showrooms are all based in Auckland. This is the only catwalk show all year basically. In fact, I sat next to a well-dressed, lawyer called Mia at World who said this was her first fashion show ever! That is pretty much unheard of in Auckland, what with Britomart, Newmarket, Westfield, The Marr Factory, FashionWeekend, and more, putting on catwalk shows for the public. So this means they have to work extra hard to generate content and will do interviews with designers and attend instore and consumer retail events and so on. They work HARD. Check out their blogs!

Below: Brightblack’s Matt Stopworth in black and white Kowtow, Jacob Coutie in orange Kowtow, and Nadya France White in Miss Crabb.

Walking to Ruby along Wellington waterfront – sunny but windy!

Speaking of consumer instore events, one brand that does this (along with Stephen Marr/The Department Store/Karen Walker group) perhaps best in NZ is Ruby. Their social media engagement with fans is one of the best in the NZ fashion industry. They do VIP customer events really, really well, and we attended this one featuring MYDEERFOX boutique leatherware, created by Lisa (below, standing) along with her good friend from University, Georgia, who assisted making the leather flower bracelets which they were selling for $49. They also made guests a gift of an initialed lauggage tag each to take home.

Hospitality was provided by Six Barrel Soda Co, Stolen Rum, and Mexican food by Sweet Mother’s Kitchen. Great job, Ruby!

On Thursday 4th April at 8pm Kathryn Wilson held a footwear show using Pleasure State lingerie and leather peplum belts created by Wellingtonian stylist, Barry Botham. The girls looked hot and sharp and the crowd was amped – literally as many were from AMP, who started her out with their $5,000 scholarship ten years back.

We wanted to go backstage prior but were whisked from the 7pm Group Show when went on a bit longer than planned straight to our seats, in the BMW showroom – a cool venue. Kathryn flew down to handpick models and was back of stage enthusiastically telling them how gorgeous and hot they looked and they strutted out confidently and really owned it. Her fiance Liam’s production and events staging company Dark Horse, who designed the Veuve Clicquot area we attended at the Polo this year, staged the show, and of course yellow flutes of Veuve Clicquot were in everyone’s hands. NZ’s supermodel Grace Owen who starred in the horse-whip-and-lingerie video at the Britomart show last month, starred again in a video this time on a BMW! Grace didn’t walk in this show though, and the usual hairdresser Danny Pato was working in Paris fashion week so the gorgeous hairstyles were created by Davines salon, Powder Room on Cuba Street in Wellington, and makeup by M.A.C.

Below: Thread’s Wellington writer Reema Alfouir and Megan Robinson at BMW for Kathryn Wilson.

Coming up today, Friday 5th April, is Remix Magazine photography editorial workshop at noon, the Starfish individual catwalk show at 4pm, a Group Show at 7.30pm with The Oblivious, Philippa and Alice, highnoontea, Frantisek, Silence Was…, Mardle, Love Hotel, and My Boyfriend’s Back.

Then at 8.30pm we’re heading offsite to the Bright Black event in association with The Service Depot presenting Jimmy D ‘Gloom Generation’ AW13 in an installation.

We’re loving staying at Museum Art Hotel, and got room service late the first night, below. How cool is the Florence Broadhurst wallpaper? All the furnishings and artworks have so much personality, it’s a perfect fashion match. Plus, they are so polite and friendly. No wonder they sponsor Wellington Fashion Week for the delegates’ accomodation.

Below: Megan Robinson and Anya Brighouse of BeautifulBedlam.co.nz at Museum Art Hotel. Photo by Julie Roulston.

Megan Robinson
5 April 2013