Get ready for a night of fabulous fashion
Once a year Gore becomes a mecca for design. Reporter speaks with designer Charmaine Reveley about her journey in the south to owning her own label.
There’s something special about seeing a designer amongst her own clothing line. Charmaine Reveley takes pride in her shop’s appearance, straightening and spacing out the hanging items with care.
She introduces herself to customers in the shop. No need to explain who she is, her name says it all.
It’s been about 13 years since her brand, Charmaine Reveley, was launched, but she still looks at her garments with pride.
Reveley takes care to make sure the shop is under control before she leaves to go back to her design space.
But before her brand was established and being sold in shops across the country, she was a young student at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin who wanted to take any opportunity she could to showcase her talents.
So when the Gore Hokonui Fashion Design Awards came around in 2000, the then first-year student decided to grab it with both hands.
On her first attempt at the age of 18, Reveley managed to take out the young designer award as well as a couple other titles.
She still has her winning young designer garment compiled of wool and zips. It’s stashed away in her workroom as a constant reminder of where she began.
Reveley thinks she has probably had a placing design in every category she’s entered in the Fashion Design Awards.
Growing up in Canterbury, she was a fashionista from a young age, making outfits for her dolls as well as herself.
Sewing is well and truly in her blood. Her mother is a machinist who is always making things. A skill Reveley has obviously picked up for herself.
Throughout the years the dream grew and grew.
At the end of three years of fashion school, she got straight into launching her own brand, which shares her name.
‘‘I wouldn’t do it now,’’ she says of the name choice.
‘‘Using your own name really puts yourself out there. My name is referred to everywhere.’’
Although, Reveley admits at the time it was hard thinking of a brand name that fitted her image.
She got involved in the Dunedin Fashion Incubator, which helped her to establish herself as a designer.
She rented a space and, with the help of a mentor, her very own fashion line got off the ground.
Reveley has been in her new shop on Princes St for two years. It’s surrounded by the easily identifiable clothing brands, but as its own character, it stands out.
It was a big step in her career, but good, she says.
Her little space is packed with goods. The walls are lined with her own designs.
Some jewellery, handbags and other accessories by other designers are dotted throughout the room as well.
At any given time there is almost always a fashion fiend browsing through her latest collection, admiring the colours and the originality of it.
But it’s not just Dunedin she sells in, her label is throughout the southern region.
Reveley sells her fashion line in Stash in Invercargill, Decode in Queenstown and Bella in Wanaka, as well as several locations in Dunedin.
She doesn’t pay attention to trends, she says. Reveley has always wanted her garments to be something that can be worn for five or more years without dating.
Patterns from her previous collections have been stored away to pull out at a later time and rework.
Because of the way she works with her designs, they are they kind of things that can be recreated time and time again.
‘‘I’m definitely not restricted by trends.’’
Reveley likes to mix up her designs about every six months.
The prices of her and others work might seem pricey to some, but for a quality, one-of-a-kind outfit, it’s worth it.
‘‘It’s expensive to manufacturer in New Zealand. It can be quite labor intensive,’’ she says.
In 2011, Reveley was asked to return to the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards — this time to judge.
It was an interesting experience, she says.
She sure has an eye for quality. It doesn’t take much to see what kind of quality the end product is, she says.
Although Reveley has not been back to the Hokonui’s since then, she has a huge appreciation for it.
‘‘It’s cool that the whole town comes along to support it.’’
She encourages anyone interested in fashion to enter the awards that helped jump-start her career.
It will give them great experience, and the prize money isn’t bad either, she says.
Awards convener Wade Paterson says there has been a record number of entries into this year’s event.
It’s the first official year his late wife Heather has not had some sort of involvement in the awards, but Paterson believes she would be proud of the work they’ve done.
‘‘We’ve had no input from Heather this year, so we really had to stand on our own two feet,’’ he says.
The show gets endless support year after year, from various places such as Southland Institute of Technology.
It just goes to show the strength
Using your own name really puts yourself out there. Charmaine Reveley
of the awards, he says.
There were 241 entries this year, equating to about 335 garments. But, not all will be paraded down the catwalk at the Gore Town and Country Club on Saturday.
This year’s judges, Annah Stretton, James Dobson, Lela Jacobs and Jane Sutherland began their critique on Thursday and some garments didn’t make the cut.
But that’s the nature of the fashion industry.
There are some new faces this year, particularly in the school section, which showed last night.
Nearly 30 years on, the show gets stronger every year, with more people entering and sell out shows.
It is the longest running fashion design award show of its type in New Zealand.
Attracting high profile fashion designers to judge the awards, such as Trelise Cooper, Kate Sylvester and Liz Findley, shows the success of the show.
It’s a big job, particularly picking up where Heather left off, but Paterson is giving it his best shot and it is definitely paying off.
But in the back of his mind, his wife lingers throughout this event. After all, it was her baby to begin with.
‘‘I think she’d be impressed with the quality. I think she’d be very, very proud.’’