Fashion pair off to Paris

Leilani Rickard and Suzan Kostanich are gearing up to show their fashion collection on a Paris catwalk this month. PHOTO/ERIN MAJUREY.

Two Rotorua women have teamed up to make their mark in the fashion industry, showing their New Zealand-inspired collection on an elaborate catwalk in Paris this month.

Leilani Rickard, who designs hosiery featuring Maori designs under the label Iwi Creations Limited, says she and artist Suzan Kostanich just clicked.

"I'm the kind of person that comes up with ideas and then I get someone in to do it. Suzan and I had met on a number of occasions and more recently we got talking at the Matariki Fashion Show at the library. We were talking about my collection of rain wear that I had taken to New Zealand Fashion Week in 2013. After Fashion Week I was having a few issues with stockists so I had to put the collection aside for a while. After the Matariki show, Suzan said I should do something with my collection," says Leilani.

"Suzan has a vast background in fashion and her daughter had her own fashion label, and she offered to get on board and help me. I had been sent an invitation a few times to show my stuff at a fashion show run by J Model Management in the UK. These shows are set in very iconic places - the last one was in Spain on a solar powered catwalk. The one I have been recently been invited to is set in Paris on the riverside. It will take place on a 100 metre glass barge."

Suzan says she was very excited to get involved and has been working day and night to get the collection ready.

"It was a very late invitation. Leilani received the invitation last month and the show is on the 29th of October. We are hoping to get away on the 21st. It's been a busy time, taking the fabric, having it printed, and making the collection. But Leilani is great to work with."

Leilani says there are 15 different pieces in the collection which is inspired by microscopic images of harakeke, a type of flax used in traditional Maori weaving.

"I've worked with harakeke for around 30 years, and then my granddaughter did her internship at Scion, and it was her job to scan native plants. She scanned some harakeke and gave me these images as a gift. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I knew I wanted to do something special with them. I resized the images and had them printed on the fabric featured in my collection."

Suzan describes the collection as very unique but specific to New Zealand.

"Harakeke was the only textile used prior to colonialisation, so we really wanted to use it, to carry it on and give it a modern twist. This is a very important thing that we are doing, we want to put Rotorua on the map."

The fabric is New Zealand made and printed in Papakura, and the ketes (bags) and heru (hair combs) designed specifically for the show, were made in Gisborne.

The pair have set up a Pledge Me page to help cover the cost of the trip.
To donate, go to pledgeme.co.nz / Get Leilani, Suzan and the Collection to France.