Off the cuff
JENNY DRURY IS FINDING SUCCESS WITH FASHION LABEL KETZ- KE BY FOCUSSING ON WHOLESALE AND SUPPORTING NEW ZEALAND RETAILERS
E M MA R AWSON STICK TO YOUR KNITTING is Jenny Drury’s motto. The head designer and owner of streetwear label, Ketz-ke, has seen other fashion labels and clothing stores come and go. But her business, which turns 10 this year, is going gangbusters. Ketz-ke has grown consistently since day dot and this year’s sales are up 20 per cent in what economists say is a challenging retail environment. Jenny puts this success down to playing to her strengths and accepting failures.
“There is a good career to be had in fashion, and there is actually money to be made from it,” says Jenny. “What I continually ask myself is, ‘Where am I making my money and what is the niche of my business?’”
Finding that niche took some time. Jenny dabbled in men’s clothing with her line Izaak, launched two years after Ketz-ke, but put the brand on the back-burner after discovering there weren’t enough independent men’s retailers in the country to support economies of scale.
In 2009 she entered a partnership with a Chinese retailer who sold Ketz-ke exclusively into 32 stores in Guangzhou, but the partnership came to a natural end as the New Zealand Ketz-ke business changed focus. “That work helped me in the early stages of the business, as the quantities were really good. But now the brand Ketz-ke stands on its own feet.”
Jenny exports to Japan, Australia and Rarotonga but New Zealand remains her core market. Rather than putting her energy behind operating a flagship retail store, she concentrates on wholesale, selling four seasons a year into 85 stockists throughout New Zealand.
“Some country towns do great business because people are loyal to their local businesses. Their turnover is just as good as stores in the city because they have lower overheads and more often than not they are owner/operators.”
Ketz-ke (pronounced like jet-ski with a ‘k’)is a smart/ casual streetwear brand designed in New Zealand and manufactured in China. Ketz-ke’s trademark look is a mix of patterns and prints. Comfort and fit are core to the range.
“We’ve had good response to the designer nights we run in provincial towns. Our retailers are looking for new ways to get customers into stores, and often I will go to their shop and talk with their customers about the clothes. I’m from Cambridge, and I was brought up on a pig farm, and people seem to be reassured that I’m not some prissy