FREE|STYLE
Editor-at-large Julie Roulston brings FashioNZ readers the very best from her fashion beat, each week…
Charlie Brown set, NZFW 2012 (image c/- Giana Patel)
OVERSHARING IS THE NEW BLACK
Frustration is nothing new to those beavering away in the fashion industry, but Social Media has given that frustration a voice. Ironically it’s media – old and new – who are a primary source of frustration.
One designer posted on Facebook post New Zealand Fashion Week: “you bust your arse, do the best collection you have ever done, created an amazing show…and STILL don't get mentioned in Viva…”
Another designer vented their spleen in their own blog, saying “I, for one, am so over the jibes and negative reviews that make reference to our customer base, the perceived positioning of the label and capability of the design.”
The tough answer is that if you put your collection in the public eye, you open yourself up to praise and criticism. Members of the media FREE|STYLE asked to comment were largely unapologetic. There was strong consensus that it’s when the garments drop into store in six months’ time and seasonally relevant magazine issues are published, that the full extent of appreciation – or otherwise – will be revealed.
Catriona Smith, longtime fashion marketer and currently Marketing Manager for Briarwood, said “the reality is, the majority of Viva was put to bed weeks before Fashion Week and there is only so much space left for last minute placement. Their time will come…if the collection is worth writing about, it SHOULD get its time in the sun!
NZFW designer Andrea Moore weighed in on the relevancy of short lead versus long lead media, saying, “What's in store – in season – is the business of fashion; what’s on the catwalk is the emotion of fashion. It needs its own form of path to market…which is where newspapers and the web are very relevant.”
With both the fashion industry and the publishing industry in a state of flux – and both due to the advent of digital – I guess a Fashion Week is bound to be a potent mixer.
FASH BASH
Salasai NZFW 2012 (image c/- Giana Patel)
It’s oddly relieving to hear that there was at least one New Zealand Fashion Week 2012 stoush-ette. It’s all been pretty tame and well behaved since Aja v Bridget at Huffer back in 2007. But we’re told that a publisher was evicted from Salasai backstage with the help of two security guards, for shooting makeup and model Holly Rose without the proper backstage pass. The person in question had been asked to leave and did so a little less promptly and directly than anticipated. While NZFW would certainly be pleased to have no drama at all, don’t you just love a little texture with your ethereally uniform street style?
NO 'DEPARTMENT STORE – THE SEQUEL'
Stephen Marr (image c/- Oliver Rose)
There’s been a lot of chat about developments in Ponsonby, with particular curiosity about Stephen Marr’s plans. He says “Our development will be a mix of retail, service and hospitality. We will be moving the salon from where we are in Ponsonby…the Mini site and ours will be due for completion by the end of of 2013. In terms of the area (Mackelvie St-Brown St) there are four separate developments which combined will be creating some exciting changes for the area.” Gregory and Ricochet have already been named as tenants of one new development along with Andrea Moore, who will move from her current Ponsonby Road site. In the shorter term Moochi is to take over the former Mei Mei space, opening in late October.
– Julie Roulston