Fashion designer Tanya Carlson to close Ponsonby shop after 21 years

Fashion designer Tanya Carlson has announced her label will close its physical retail space after more than two decades trading on Ponsonby Rd.

In an email sent to customers on Thursday morning, the designer said her business was approaching “the end of an era for the Carlson Ponsonby Store, as we count down to the end of our lease in early June”.

Its final day in store at 120 Ponsonby Rd will be Sunday, June 8.

After that, Carlson will pivot the label’s business model, continuing to sell through a dedicated online store and other NZ stockists.

While preparing to farewell her long-term retail location, which also houses her workroom, the Otago-raised designer offered a note of thanks to her loyal customers.

“We’ve had 21 amazing years in this location and have been reflecting with gratitude on the thousands of incredible women we’ve had the pleasure of meeting and dressing over the years,” she wrote.

“It’s been a joy to share our love of crafted, considered design in this beautiful space. Most of all, it’s been a privilege to be part of your working life, special occasions, celebrations, weddings, and anniversaries.”

The designer, who is a long-time selector and head judge for the iD International Emerging Designer Awards, pointed to shifts in retail as driving the change.

Over the next fortnight, the brand will hold an end-of-lease sale with discounted items, sample and archival pieces available for purchase.

For more than 25 years, Carlson has dressed celebrities, athletes, broadcasters, and, of course, the women who form her everyday clientele.

By 2019, she had created more than 200 custom wedding gowns over her career, bringing her fashion designer’s eye to the process for each lucky bride-to-be.

When former Newshub presenter Melissa Chan-Green walked down the aisle, she wore a Carlson creation.

Another happy client was Bronwyn Illingworth, who married All Black great Josh Kronfeld in 2015.

Carlson’s other high-profile brides included Newstalk ZB’s Mornings host Kerre Woodham and Olympian Lisa Carrington.

In an interview with the Herald in 2020, Carlson spoke of how population changes and the coronavirus pandemic had made an impact in the Ponsonby area.

The retail store that carries Carlson’s name had by that stage been on Ponsonby Rd for 15 years, opening in 2005 after she made the move from Dunedin.

Back then, Carlson had to pay $25,000 in key money to take over a lease in the sought-after area.

But in recent years, and since physical shopping opened up post-lockdown, the strip known for its eclectic mix of shops and its dining scene appeared to be losing its sparkle.

“It is the rise of skin clinics, physios, eyeglass shops, hearing [specialists] – it’s an ageing demographic definitely,” Carlson said.

“Yes, there’s lots of amazing young people here ... but anyone with money is older.”

At the time, Carlson said more business owners – including fashion designers – weren’t able to afford the average $8000-$10,000 monthly rental on a Ponsonby Rd store.

“The rents aren’t coming down any time soon, even though the strip is now filled with empty stores,” says Carlson, adding that this is also partly due to construction work.

In the interview, Carlson said she also believed the opening of Westfield Newmarket and Commercial Bay in downtown Auckland had an effect on the vacancies and the changing types of stores in the area.

Carlson entered the fashion realm at age 17, moving from Dunedin to Sydney to study painting and printmaking at the National Art School, then gaining a Diploma in Fashion Design from East Sydney TAFE.

In 1997, she returned home, establishing a custom design studio before launching an eponymous label.

Carlson designs are characterised by draping, a use of rich fabrics and romantic detailing. She traces these details back to childhood dress-ups with vintage satin ball gowns and the dramatic windswept Otago landscape she grew up in.

The fashion retail landscape continues to prove challenging for New Zealand designers.

Kate Sylvester shut the doors on her stores at the end of March, after announcing plans to close her business in 2024.

And this month Wellington-based womenswear brand Twenty Seven Names announced it would close its store in Auckland’s Commercial Bay shopping precinct.

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