Editor-at-large Julie Roulston brings FashioNZ readers the very best from her fashion beat, each week…
LYCRA OF THE WEEK – I
They were the first New Zealand brand to be asked to join ASOS! Swimwear label Surface Too Deep’s designers Esther Miro and Sarah-Jane Abraham held media meet and greets at their new showroom, Ciel PR, last Friday.
Both former graduates of Massey, the duo’s Summer 2012/’13 collection Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday consists of “fun yesteryear silhouettes with nostalgic, crafty-inspired prints.” Miro, a textiles graduate with a fashion major, founded the label in Melbourne three years ago – though the label is now proudly Wellington-based. “I saw a gap in the swimwear market for high end prints that also offered bust support,” she says. To this end the styles in the range all feature moulded cups and boning, enabling all straps to be detached with confidence.
Abraham says that Surface Too Deep strives to create swimwear that isn’t overtly sexual, but still has a powerful, feminine aesthetic. The label is stocked at all seven Ruby stores and via the pair’s own online store in addition to ASOS – with new stockists for the coming season a long way down the pipeline.
LYCRA OF THE WEEK – II
Meanwhile, this Friday fashion editors will view Bendon’s new D-G cup collection Evollove at Lily & Louis. The pitch is decidedly youthful (“spunky”/ “flirty”/“cheeky”/ “playful”) in keeping with the company’s initiative to meet the needs of a market they say is increasing: younger women with larger bra cup sizes. There are 10 new styles in the collection which is priced in the ‘affordable’ bracket, congruent with its targets’ income: bra’s average $69.95 and briefs average $34.95.
OLD FRIEND/EYE CANDY OF THE WEEK
Former New Zealand resident and Fashion Quarterly photographer Mariano Vivanco is getting international acclaim for his “amazing” FW 2012/13 Dolce & Gabanna campaign shoot. It’s set in the streets of the small Sicilian city of Taormina and uses Italian actors (Francesco Scianna, Gianmarco Tognazzi, Brenno Placido, Flavio Parenti and Carmine Recano) – joined by local people and ‘Italian noble socialite’/model Bianca Brandolini d’Adda, for a series of images that celebrate family, love and conviviality, “values that are at the core of the brand.”
REINVENTION OF THE WEEK
Kim Larking was head of Clyne Models ten years ago, managing talent like Kylie Bax and on the verge of opening Clyne New York. The events of 9/11 drove him to make a drastic change. “I remember standing there, half way to the door, watching CNN while holding bags full of models’ portfolios. I was spell-bound by the unfolding events and what this would mean. I quickly realised that my dream would go no further that day as I witnessed the whole city contract upon itself and close down….more significantly all around the world people were catapulted into confronting their greatest fears and the fragility of life.” This month sees Larking launch the Vision Products range – 100% natural skin and hair care products, eco friendly bamboo apparel, nutritional products and sustainable greeting cards – with a media launch next week and a party a little later to formally launch the Vision for Humanity charity.
– Julie Roulston