Moore than one way to make money

NEW ZEALAND: Auckland-based designer Andrea Moore has struck an agreement with iconic knitwear manufacturer Silverdale to design a new range of contemporary pieces.

Launching for winter 2008 the range, dubbed Silverdale by Andrea Moore, brings together the skills of both entities and also offers a way for them to broaden their market base.

Having already worked with Silverdale in the past, Moore said she was delighted when approached to collaborate with them.

"We had had some of our own knitwear pieces made by them for a couple of seasons and we were really impressed with what they were able to achieve for us.  When they mentioned that they were looking for a designer to take ownership of their women's wear ranges everything just came together really nicely.  Silverdale has a great brand history and has generations of experience behind it so we are gaining a great deal from the experience."

Silverdale managing director Warren Cotterill said finding the balance between current trends and timeless style had always been one of the company's talents, but it saw room for more growth through a relationship with a more "fashion forward" label.

"The company has always explored and experimented with new approaches to fashion knitwear and saw huge potential of a relationship with a unique and fashion-forward designer such as Andrea Moore," he said.

The 30 garment range has been divided into a series of lifestyle groups with pieces to match accordingly. The urban set has more city focused styles including snug merino jumpers and fitted jackets and the villa set is designed with weekends away in mind, think long line cashmere cardigans and oversized jerseys. 

"The range is very modern and focused on women who want to be comfortable, and warm, but who don't want to look frumpy. I guess I am my target market for this really, being a working mum and I am still quite body conscious so I want my shape to come through too. It really is a new way of looking at knitwear. It's properly designed and has a lot of attention to detail."

Moore wouldn't disclose many financial details but said she was under contract and would be getting paid a royalty for each piece sold.

"It's just a really different way of working for me. It's nice to have the freedom to design a range without having to worry about all the business aspects at the same time. I just do my bit, hand it over and then don't see it again until it comes back from China. It's so much easier than having to follow the whole process through my own workroom as I do for my own business."

There have been plenty of new developments with her own label too. Moore now has five stores of her own throughout the country, with a sixth planned to open in New Market soon.  Nationwide she has nine other stockists and in Australia has a further 16 including Blondies Boutique in Melbourne and Vreeland's in Sydney.

"It has been a very busy time for us and we have still more plans on the go. We would like to open more stores - maybe in Australia.  You'll just have to wait and see."