Knitwear label takes on Italians

AUCKLAND: Cheeky New Zealand knitwear label Sabatini has staged its most audacious coup attempt yet targeting high profile competitor Missoni in its own backyard.
The Auckland-headquartered label recently returned from Milan Fashion Week where it became the few New Zealand designer fashion label to make inroads into the Italian market after securing 35 accounts.
The showing caps off a successful few months for the label which, following an appearance at London Fashion Week, doubled its accounts from 21 to 38 and attracted repeat orders from supporters The Cross (Notting Hill Gate), Tashia (King's Road), Fenwicks (New Bond Street) and Austique in South Kensington.
Additional accounts were secured with prestigious department store Barneys (Tokyo) and repeat orders came from Searle (New York) and Athens boutiques Stenia and Observatory. By the end of the year the label expects to boast around 130 stockists across Japan, Greece, Moscow, the US and UK.
Sydney-based Sabataini creative director Margi Milich, who runs the company with Auckland-based brother Tony, said all up the label has written close to $1 million worth of orders for its spring/summer 06 collections alone.
Milich credits much of the label's European success to the popularity of its signature knit dress, however argued at the end of the day its success had come down to Sabatini's original design.
"They're not interested in buying anything that's mainstream. You need really good fashion design to get into that market."
A strong relationship with its agents - Studio Zeta in Milan and Prelude Trading in London - had also been integral to the popularity of the brand, Milich said.
"At the end of the day we've got great agents who are totally passionate about what the label is doing. The girls who sell our clothes wear our clothes and have invested significantly in the relationship as well."
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Paris marketing consultant Zak Cole, whose organisation supported Sabatini at the Tranoi trade fair during Paris Fashion Week last year, said the label had "blazed a trail" for other Kiwi creative entrepreneurs to follow.
"Sabatini White is a genuine New Zealand success story - one that has been carefully planned and executed. The company has been smart about market entry. By showing [in Paris] it was able to attract the attention of high-end buyers and influential media and agents from a large variety of markets."