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Juliette Hogan: Growing Up With New Zealand Fashion Week

 

The past three years has seen many fashion businesses decline or extinguish themselves completely due to decreased revenue, low return customer numbers and fragmented brand loyalty.  

 

However Juliette's business has experienced overwhelmingly positive growth, and she cites New Zealand Fashion Week as a major factor.  

 

In February & March 2011, Juliette's small Ponsonby Road boutique turned over as much revenue as she'd taken in through the shop in her entire first year of business: a sure sign that her customers trust her product, and the market is responding positively to New Zealand's new wave of young fashion designers.

 

In turn, this success has affected the perception of Juliette's brand to potential sponsors wanting to gain traction with trusted brands in fashion. 

 

Home-grown, world-renowned homeware brand Fisher & Paykel have aligned with Juliette for her fall/winter 2012 presentation, and Queenstown's luxury boutique hotel The Spire have hedged their bets on Juliette's delicate, sophisticated and assured design aesthetic.

 

Fisher & Paykel will launch their brand new 'Fabric Smart' laundry appliance line with Juliette, and The Spire have engaged her to design their staff's uniforms as part of their partnership deal.

For Juliette, the support of local brands helps her manage the overwhelming load burdened by any young business, and also validates many years of hard work:

 

"My label has been a labour of love, and I've been extremely diligent in designing for women in a specific way" says Juliette.  "Fashion Week forces me to lift my game, and the response from media, buyers and consumers has given me such valuable feedback to refine what I do to ensure there are fewer misses and more hits.  

 

Being commercially viable is now more of a focus than ever before, with a customer base who expect certain things from me, coupled with volatile markets that make sure we have to work harder to maintain the same results."

 

New Zealand Fashion Week 2011 will be the stage for Juliette's sixth consecutive annual show, presented to 500 guests in an invite-only event inside the brand new NZFW Viaduct Events Centre venue.

 

Her summer 2011/12 collection 'Fall In Love, Not In Line' hits stores in New Zealand and Australia on Friday 19th August.

 

www.juliettehogan.com