Kathryn Wilson at Urbis Designday

Kathryn Wilson has aligned with Coastal Design and Touch of Spice at Urbis Designday to think ‘outside the square’ on how shoes can be viewed and admired within a space…

1. What led to your interest and involvement in this year’s Urbis Designday collaboration with Coastal Design and Touch of Spice?

I was approached by Nathan at Urbis magazine earlier in the year to be part of this event and was delighted to be aligned with Coastal Design and Touch of Spice to develop a concept which would ‘wow the crowd’ and impress the loyal fans who attend the event each year. It’s an exciting challenge to combine our product into a form of presentation which is unexpected to the audience and has been awesome to think ‘outside the square’ on how shoes can be viewed and admired within a space.

2. What other involvement have you had in the urban design arena?

I enjoy every form of design and appreciate architecture and innovative furniture so this project was a fun way to bring these thoughts together with our brands. The presentation of our catwalk events for NZ fashion week and NZ fashion festival including staging, venue selection, lighting, and music all reflecting on our brand values of ‘playful sophistication’ which was important to translate into this project also.

3. What particular aspects of Coastal Design and Touch of Spice encouraged you to see an opening for a collaborative project?

I am super excited to collaborate with these two premium partners… Coastal Design is a leader in their field and we are delighted to have had input to create one-off furniture pieces for Urbis Design day using textiles from our Kathryn Wilson footwear W’12 collection. Touch of Spice are an incredible events company who took our idea from its inspiration / theme into reality. The team are so passionate and experienced in events of all kinds making it seem anything is possible for our installation.

4. As one of New Zealand’s leading shoe designers, how do you feel that your designer footwear can be integrated into the Urbis Design Day installation?

I am really excited about this project, we are constantly pushing the boundaries on how shoes can be shown on the foot or used as a piece of art… this installation combines the best of both and I’d love the audience to be inspired to follow the Kathryn Wilson brand on our fun journey ahead.

5. How are we to interpret the use of your shoes in the urban design concept that will be created on Saturday?

What are your collective inspirations behind this Saturday’s installation? We have worked together to create individual furniture pieces with Jo from Coastal design that will be premiered on Saturday using Kathryn Wilson components and materials. Touch of Spice have created spaces and formats to showcase the W’12 footwear collection in an unexpected manner which should turn heads on the day and tempt the guests to try some heels on!!

6. Your recent shoebox design at Britomart has created an interesting urban statement. How should we view this? Is this a deliberate expression of yours whereby you are blending urban design with your design of shoes?

The Britomart landscape, surrounded by heritage buildings, creates a wonderful environment for a giant shoe box; a quirky modern surprise. What better way for a shoe designer to present innovative designs to the world – in a charming, creative concept store, built to replicate the packaging of our footwear? We have had the best reaction from the public… people stop to look at the building, realize it’s a store and walk in. Our flagship retail store in Auckland CBD was inspired by a visit to Tokyo a few years ago where they had wrapped a building as a Louis Vuitton suitcase… I remember looking up at the store and thinking “how cool would that be as a massive shoe box?”

22 March 2012