New Zealand/Aotearoa designer Rory William Docherty is returning to London Fashion Week next month after his debut runway launch there in 2025.
The luxury, slow-fashion label will continue its partnership with Andaz, a 1901 historic building managed by Hyatt, to present once again in its historic ballroom in the city of London.
According to Docherty, the debut runway last year introduced the brand to a larger international audience and market, generating interest from editors, stylists and photographers, which led him to secure stockists in Japan, mainland China and America.
“It isn’t cheap,” Docherty said. “It’s a longer-term investment, and part of a strategy to take the brand further afield and reach aligned customers, stores and press that may not have discovered us otherwise.
“Balancing creative, business and financial decisions is not a simple formula. There are calculated risks, relying on self belief, careful planning, budgets, creative problem solving and a lot of hard work.”
Docherty added that this isn’t the right path for every brand, with timing relevance and positioning being huge factors.
“We are operating in challenging times, and businesses need to be agile and adaptive. This path for Rory William Docherty the brand is proving beneficial.”
The brand showcased ‘The Tides’ show at London Fashion Week 2025, featuring a selection of his designs, covering gender-fluid styles with a contemporary and slightly formal style.
Prior to that, the Aotearoa designer debuted at Australian Fashion Week in 2024, and featured at New Zealand Fashion Week in 2023.
Today, the brand sells its products via its online channel, and is sold through stockists such as The Shelter and Scotties in New Zealand, with a small curation of boutique stockists in Australia, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Docherty said the growth over the years has been considered and intentional. Since his debut at LFW last year, the brand has deepened its design practice, straddling between art and fashion. Many of his designs are created from art he creates across other mediums like drawing.
“As a result, original artworks and sculptural pieces have been acquired by private collectors and institutions alike,” the designer said. “It's tremendously rewarding and encouraging to have a responsive, engaged audience supporting both the fashion/practical business and the art/poetic practice.”
Docherty’s ultimate goal is to scale the brand’s reach locally and globally. “We are exploring categories and techniques, which are yielding some very exciting results, so I intend to continue building those areas.”