A shoe by any other name

Being "comfortable" isn’t the greatest compliment in fashion. So, in an attempt to be seen as stylish rather than just comfortable alone, Kumfs shoes rebranded as Ziera with a launch event in a garden they created, complete with aerial performers…

The weather on Thursday night did its level-headed best to keep everyone away. It was pouring down with an arctic blast, just for good measure. But it wasn’t enough to keep the fabulous from making it to launch of Ziera shoes at the Pavillion Café in Shortland Street in the city.

Ziera used to be Kumfs, the tried and true New Zealand-owned company that many of us are familiar with. I have childhood memories of my mother shoe-shopping at the original ‘Mervyn Adams’ stores when we used to come up to Auckland for a visit.

There isn’t much you would recognise from the original brand as their design team has been very busy updating their range. The one thing that hasn’t changed (and which you can’t see) is their commitment to comfort. Without going into the technical aspects these shoes are amazingly comfortable.

The MC for the launch night was Carly Flynn, who talked about her first pair of shoes bought from an original Kumfs store, and how when she was heavily pregnant they were quite simply bliss on her sore tired feet. We ladies do put our feet through a lot of discomfort at times, and Ziera wish to redress the balance. Their motto is "beautiful inside (as in the comfort and construction), beautiful outside" (in terms of their design). Sounds good to me.

After drinks and nibbles, there was a display by two aerial dancers – not something you see every day!

Then the grandson of one of the two founders spoke about the vision for the new brand. Good to know that the company is still family owned and operated. We also got to see one of the newly re-branded stores – there are 44 around NZ and Australia.

The evening ended on a much more eventful note, with Carly telling us all that the shoes around the room where for anyone that could grab them, fit them and then wear them home! There was a fair bit of light-hearted argy bargy, and one or two very focused women. I just stood back and watched all the fun though my companion for the evening, Rachel, managed to score herself a pair of studded brown sandals that she loved. It was a lovely way to end the evening, and made sure everyone left with a bit of spring in their step!