At home and abroad
Apart from the obvious geographic closeness, taking the leap across the ditch makes sense for a wide variety of reasons says Sydney based marketing communications manager for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Deborah Prior.
"Australians are looking for a point of difference in their clothing and New Zealand designers can offer them that. The feedback that we get from all our buyers is that they can rely on these designers to produce unique and innovative styles that are well made and will sell well for them."
According to Prior, end customers also like the fact that they are buying from almost their own back yard.
"Kiwi designers are seen as being Australasian and have been fully embraced by people here. They don't feel like they are being disloyal by wearing a New Zealand garment they feel as though they are keeping up to the minute and leading the way."
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise will be sponsoring a designer showroom and runway shows for several designers looking to either crack the Australian market or consolidate and boost their sales.
"The fact that, with the New Zealand Government's support, many of these designers can have a presence at events like Australian Fashion Week also means they get seen by the right people. Their media profile gets a lift which is great and they get exposed to buyers from Asia and the Northern Hemisphere too."
Below, Ragtrader speaks to five emerging Kiwi designers about their Australian aspirations.
Cybele Wiren
It's only been five years since 30-year-old Cybele Wiren launched her label self titled label but she has spent that time wisely.
Wiren has made strategic decisions as to where and when to export her mid priced, locally made, designs and more specifically, who to.
"The business has been building from day one at quite a steady rate," she says. "And once I had secured the stockists I wanted here it seemed that the next logical step was to grow the brand into Australia."
So far, Wiren has She believes that like her New Zealand customers, Australian buyers have been attracted by Cybele's youthful feel, her self produced prints and the eclectic design inspirations - this season's Joan of Arc meets aristocratic equestrian themed range 'Blue Blood' is a case in point. But there are also differences.
"There is a much more urban market in Australia and I find that they are really interested in the more directional pieces in the range."
Logistically, exporting has posed few problems for the designer.
"I sell through an agent which makes things a lot easier this end and really I haven't had any problems."
As for the future Wiren would like to expand her presence in Australia, Another Australian Fashion Week is also on the cards.
"I'd love to show in Australia again. We got such a wonderful response last time that it makes sense. I'll just have to see if I can afford it."
Mala Brajkovic
Having spent a good deal of her working career as an assistant to Karen Walker, it's been inevitable that Mala Brajkovic's designs and career path would invite comparison. And there are similarities. Both are talented, visionary designers who know how to work the media and seem to embody the ideals their labels espouse. But design wise they couldn't be more different, where Walker is cool and considered, Brajkovic is effervescent and flirty.
"I make clothes that my friends and I would wear," she says. "They are for women with a bit of attitude, (who are) young at heart and who love dressing up and looking hot."
Brajkovic stepped out on her own when she was approached with an offer from a silent investor.
"I was 29, it was something that I had always wanted to do and was ready for and had such a great opportunity from a financial backer that I knew it was time to go for it."
Almost as soon as she opened her central Auckland boutique which stocks pieces ranging in price from $100 to more than $1000, international buyers and media came knocking. Among her Australian stockists are Alice Euphemia in Melbourne, Blonde Venus in Brisbane and Joy Electric on the Gold Coast. She also has accounts in London, New York and Japan.
"We are lucky that we haven't really had to push ourselves a lot. One of or stores, Incu in Sydney, holds a sample range for us there which has been really helpful in terms of getting pieces to stylists and magazines."
Brajkovic puts her success in Australia down to the energy of the consumers.
"We are a little more conservative in New Zealand. The pieces that do well in Australia don't do so well here and vice versa and it seems they are the more playful pieces - the ones that are a little more colourful."
She is in no hurry to send her business into the stratosphere but would rather take things on at her own pace.
"There is a lot of potential for us in Australia - and we would love to do a fashion week over there - but I don't want to try and do things when I am not ready because it will only backfire. The next big thing for me I think, will be to open another store and then I'll take it from there."
Kathryn Wilson
As a people, New Zealanders are not known for being well shod. In fact, one previous French ambassador rather publicly lambasted kiwi women for wearing "ugly men's shoes".
Kathryn Wilson is working on changing that perception.
Under the umbrella of Caroline Sills Limited, Wilson has been designing and producing shoes for the past 10 seasons.
She says customers are drawn to her elegant, yet quirky styles, bright colours and the fact her shoes can't be found everywhere.
"I started this with the knowledge that there was a lot out there at the bottom end of the market, a little bit at the top end and really nothing in the middle," says Wilson.
"My aim was to make shoes that were fashionable and classic and that were designer but accessible at the same time."
For this reason, Wilson's shoes, designed under her own name and selling between $150 and $500 are generally sold in boutiques rather than shoe stores. In Australia she has eight accounts and sells via agent Marris Fotheringham.
"This formula has worked well for us in New Zealand and we have been selling into Australia and the US in this same way for the past three seasons. We deliberately pitch to clothing stores rather than vertical shoe retailers because we want to keep that boutique feeling and we see our shoes being just as important as clothing. It makes sense for stores to be able to sell a complete outfit."
Despite the designer feel, Wilson is able to keep her pricing competitive by manufacturing in China and Italy. And while she has the systems set in place to grow quickly she is happy taking baby steps right now.
"We know there is potential out there for us but we are still learning as a brand and we have to be careful not to outgrow ourselves. We are still taking baby steps."
James Dobson
With a history in fashion retail James Dobson new exactly what he was doing when he created his label Jimmy-D almost three years ago.
"Having sold fashion for a long time I have seen a lot of labels, and some really good ones, come and go very quickly. People can get overexcited and get a little bit ahead of themselves which is why I am taking it a little more slowly," the 26-year-old designer says.
Dobson's designs are reminiscent of Nom-d and Martin Margiela.
"My customers aren't interested in trends. They like clothes that don't dictate how to be worn. They are for creative, confident women, who take fashion seriously but not too seriously. Jimmy D appeals to a broad age range as the collection includes both elements of street wear and tailoring. It's all about the contrasts and the beauty that comes from things being a little off."
He says breaking into the Australian market has been easier than he initially thought.
"The Australia media and buyers in general are really interested in what's coming out of New Zealand, we have a reputation for innovative and interesting design that we as younger designers are really able to trade off now."
Because Jimmy-D has its own particular niche, Dobson says the key for his success has been in fostering relationships with like minded boutiques.
"I don't feel the need to have it represented by three or four stores in every city, it's more about finding the right stores, with the right people in the right places."
Jimmy-D can be found at The Corner Shop and Strelitzia in Sydney, Blonde Venus in Brisbane, and the Blondies stores in Melbourne.
Cherry Cotton Candy
One of the most talked about shows at New Zealand Fashion Week last September was the return to the runway of Cherry Cotton Candy.
After a shaky start, thanks to a trademark dispute with RCM, producers of the Helen Cherry and Workshop labels, the offshoot label from Tanya Carlson made a grand comeback after an almost two-year break.
"It has been pretty frustrating just sitting and waiting everything out," says designer Cara Cotton, "so we were more than ready to get going again."
While the brand is just putting feelers out in Australia at the moment, Cotton says there has definitely been a lot of interest.
"People know the Tanya Carlson label (stocked by David Jones), so they know that anything coming out of the same workroom will be reliable, but Cherry Cotton Candy is completely different. It's not a diffusion line it has its own identity."
Aimed at the 13 to 25-year-old market, the label takes its influence from a variety of points including '50s Americana, Japanese street fashion and cartoons.
"It's quite out there and it's definitely for people who like to be noticed. Our colours are bright so it's a very individual product."
The label has recently been featured in Oyster magazine and Elizabeth Charles has also "Australia is definitely our next stop," says Cotton. "Buyers have been talking to us about the label so we'll have to see how we get on with our summer range there. I think it will fit very well with the Australian lifestyle."+