We will survive: Fitting designs for success
Among tough trading conditions, Kiwi fashion figures say how they stay on top. By Chloe Winter.
TO survive as a fashion label in New Zealand, you have to be the tortoise, not the hare, WORLD coowner Francis Hooper says.
Top New Zealand fashion designer, Hooper, says being a Kiwi fashion brand is ‘‘the best the in the world’’, but it is also a ‘‘very, very rare creature’’.
‘‘To make it work as a designer, and as a made-in-New Zealand fashion brand, you have to work harder than most to succeed.
‘‘Hard work is a given when you are building a fashion empire. You have to take the stairs, never the lift.’’
Earlier this month, Kiwi fashion label Andrea Moore went into liquidation and receivership citing ‘‘highly damaging’’ late deliveries, ‘‘crippling’’ creditor payments, and extensive roadworks for its sudden collapse.
It was the fifth fashion brand to fail in New Zealand during the past year.
Meanwhile, WORLD, which was founded in 1989 by Hooper and then-wife Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, will be launching its 56th season this year.
The key to staying relevant, and staying afloat, was to keep changing and having fun, Hooper said.
‘‘To survive today… when physically everything we make is here and then shipped, is very hard indeed, but that is the hand we have been dealt.
‘‘We refuse to make our collections in a third world country, so we have to be different, be special and, most of all, be a brand that is glitter filled in a marketplace, which is filled with boring product,’’ he said.
‘‘WORLD has always been very extravagant in design but in business we have always been very conservative. To survive in New Zealand you have to be the tortoise not the hare.’’
Shoe designer Rebecca Anderson, who is the creative director of Chaos & Harmony, is just about to hit her 10-year milestone and said to make it work in New Zealand, designers needed to stay on course, and focus on their core business.
‘‘Don’t get distracted,’’ she said.
‘‘For me, being around people keeps me in tune with what’s happening. When you stay close to your customers, you stay in touch with their needs and wants. I think it’s important to not become ‘untouchable’.’’
It was also important to be distinct in the market, but it had to be natural, not forced, Anderson said.
‘‘I’ve also found it helps to realise you can never be everything to everyone. Once you accept that, you can just focus on what you do best.’’
Remix magazine editor and fashion director Steven Fernandez said there was no ‘‘blanket approach’’ to being a successful New Zealand fashion label.
However, the ones ‘‘making waves’’ nationally and overseas were all ‘‘thinking outside the box in terms of their designs, their marketing and their service’’.
Retail was a hard game, but there are players in it who have survived for decades, Fernandez said.
‘‘I think the common thread that exists in these Kiwi fashion houses is a healthy mix of business and creativity.
‘‘Strategic planning as a business is just as important as staying on-trend as a designer.’’