Confession Box: Trish Peng
PRIDE
You once said you wanted to be the next Vera Wang. Is that still true?
Yes, definitely. I have always had quite a lot of confidence with where I am heading
with my brand I guess, whether or not people believed in those abilities. From the age of 7, I knew I wanted to be a designer, I have always had this goal and never questioned I could do it, it's more like I know I can do it and it just depends what path I take to be the next Vera Wang. My goal is to have an empire and not a little baby business.
Why apologise for having ambition and knowing what you want?
Growing up in New Zealand everyone is quite humble. I work out of Auckland and Los Angeles and the Americans and are more like, "Yeah I am the best." Even if they have done something little, they brag about it. I was always taught to be a little bit humble but with confidence. It's that tall poppy syndrome.
So far in your empire you have the Auckland business and the Los Angeles business. What's next?
The next step is to go global. I have always specialised in custom wedding dresses. The next step is growing that wholesale market, so I can be stocked globally, in any country, in any city, in bridal stores everywhere, so anyone can get their hands on my designs.
LUST
You design quite sexy wedding gowns.
The whole wedding industry is built around love, love, love and pleasures of the body, I guess. My job is all about giving clients pleasure with the way their body looks on their special day - to make the most of their curves, getting that perfect fit, creating a gown just for them. My gowns are definitely more fitted than the American style. That's what the Kiwi bride wants, I find, the more classic style, while the American bride wants the pouf and the bling and the sparkle. I always tell them to flaunt one thing or two things - you can show your bust and you can show a little back but let's not do leg. You don't want it to be overly sexy.
Do you get brides who want to be more va-va-voom than you think they should on their big day?
Yeees … and then it's all about how I communicate that to them. I had one bride who was like, "I want a V-neck and cut-outs in front and a plunging back and a split." It was a Rarotongan wedding and I was like, "Um, what about you can have the cut-outs and the plunging back and we will do some fine boning?" She listened and, voila, she loved it. There's a fine line between letting them choose what they want and having my voice in there.
How do you negotiate that? Choosing a wedding dress can be so emotional and on television, at least, brides can be so unreasonable.
Brides usually always bring an entourage, so there's usually always one overbearing person with opinions [to contend with]. You try to get the maid of honour on side and then get the friends to convince her too and then you let them think it was their idea. People do ask if I need a degree in psychology. I think it's just patience.
GLUTTONY
What are you greedy for?
I am greedy in my aspirations for my empire. There is a bit of greed about wanting clients in both markets - Los Angeles and New Zealand.
The wedding market is hard to crack. What does empire-level success look like to you?
In my eyes I am still in the baby steps. I do put too much pressure on myself, too - work hard, play hard. My end goal is to be a household name. I am known in New Zealand but I want to be known everywhere. I work 60 to 70 hours a week, Monday to Saturday and my week varies, which I like. I have such a long journey ahead of me, so I am conscious of not getting burned-out. I work out, I have fun.
Who would your dream client be?
A royal but they are basically all married now, or the Obama daughters. I attend a lot of weddings, I love it. Because it's a 6-12-month journey with each bride, I end up getting really close to them and being invited to their weddings and helping them get ready on the day. Seeing the bride walk down the aisle, I end up crying. When I went to [actress] Brittany Daniel's (Sweet Valley High, White Chicks) wedding it was fun, she ended up doing a dance-off which was hilarious. - Eleanor Black