So here goes.
This week, we’re celebrating the 1-year anniversary of FashioNZ’s relaunch. Over the past year, we’ve received an incredible outpouring of support, love, and (mostly) constructive criticism.
On Monday, July 10th, at 5:27 PM last year, I decided to email Murray Bevan, Director of Showroom22 and soon-to-be publisher of FashioNZ, to express my interest in joining his team and working in fashion PR. Three weeks later, I received a response from Phoebe Watt, who informed me that Showroom22 had acquired FashioNZ. She had just taken on the role of editor and was urgently seeking a digital producer for the magazine. To be honest I had no clue what being a digital producer of an online magazine entailed but best believe I put on my glad rags, googled some “digital producer jargon” and waltzed into the Showroom22 office ready to lock this position down.
One of my favourite memories from that first interview was when Murray complimented me on my strong handshake.
Those first few months were hectic, but it felt amazing to be part of something from the start and watch it take off. We relaunched the FNZ site and socials with a whole new look, feel and tone which I’m proud to say I had a hand in creating. The team and contributors delivered nothing but incredible content from that point on. Top tier op-eds, interviews, write-ups, reviews, shopping galleries, and, in my opinion, the highlight of that year for FashioNZ, our NZFW: Kahuria 2023 coverage.
I remember during NZFW 2023, the team started calling me “Baggy”. At first, I was worried that “Baggy” was another word for “baggage,” which of course had me stressing. Turns out *apparently* the name came from a completely unrelated child’s nickname, but either way, if I was going to be anyone’s baggage, I was more than happy to be FashioNZ’s.
Looking back, I was thrown in at the deep end at FashioNZ. As daunting and imposter-syndrome-inducing as it was, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Phoebe was everything I could have hoped for in a leader, editor, role model and now a forever friend, and I’m incredibly grateful to Murray for taking a chance on me, a 19-year-old with little experience but a strong handshake.
Coming back in 2024 after what was an amazing first 6 months at FashioNZ was exciting albeit Phoebe, who I leaned on heavily, was no longer our editor. Despite the changes, this year we’ve already hit some amazing milestones. Lucy Slight and Jessica-Belle Greer have joined the FNZ fam as bi-weekly contributors, FNZ traveled across the ditch to cover and attend Australian Fashion Week (R.I.P NZFW 2024, the FNZ coverage would have been lit), the website is generating record breaking stats and our Instagram continues to gain (and lose lol) followers daily.
One thing I love about FNZ is that we’re actively finding ways to uplift our local industry. Championing other publications, PR agencies, content creators and small businesses has helped us foster a sense of community and collaboration that truly benefits everyone. All it takes is a scroll on the website or our instagram to see that we’re always trying to appeal to different readers. Whether that be someone interested in our “How’s Business?” series or someone looking for the best Brooke Shields-approved eyebrow products.
As with anything, not everyone will love what you do. While we’ve received incredible support for the site, we’ve also faced some solicited and unsolicited criticism along the way. To that I say; We’re all learning, I’m just a girl, you can’t win them all.
To finish, If FNZ was listed on TradeMe this is what I would put as it’s description:
FashioNZ (commonly mispronounced Fashionzzz)
Condition: Established in 1998 but has been refurbished a few times since then, most recently a year ago.
A little rough around the edges but hey aren’t we all?
Fun vibe, good articles and hefty shopping galleries.