Our fashion industry is under pressure, with iconic labels closing and designers moving offshore. Yet a new generation of brands, loyal local shoppers, and creativity signal a chance for NZ fashion to redefine itself — and thrive.
Did you know that the fashion industry contributes more to NZ’s GDP than
And yet, despite these black-and-white figures proving its importance, the industry remains undervalued and in peril. 2024 saw a slew of key New Zealand designers close their doors: Kate Sylvester, Hej Hej, Maaike, Starving Artists Fund, and more. Brands Juliette Hogan and Carlson have shuttered their bricks-and-mortar stores in Ponsonby. After first closing their Newmarket store and downsizing the city centre outpost, Smith & Caughey’s officially ceased operations in June after 145 years of trading. Trelise Cooper has announced she’s leaving New Zealand permanently, and iconic modern brand Paris Georgia has decamped to London.
“It’s so hard not to go back to being a university student and blaming everything on the patriarchy. But you do have to ask, why is it that when the construction industry has a blip, everyone acts like the sky is falling, but the clothing industry is always treated like this frivolous little sister?” Emily Miller-Sharma, managing director of Ruby and co-founder of Mindful Fashion, asks.
“It’s so disappointing, because it is a meaningful contributor to the economy. Yes the clothing industry has its issues, and yes there is an element of frivolity to it but, at the end of the day, everyone has to get dressed.”
Murray Bevan, director of PR agency Showroom 22 and board member for New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW), echoes the sentiment. “People need a house, just as much as they need clothes on their back,” he says.
It’s not all closures and doom and gloom, though. Where, once, we were dominated by iconic local brands and a select few big names, now the scene is, as Bevan says, “far more fragmented”.
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Advertise with NZME.A recent Showroom 22 industry survey asked people what their favourite Kiwi brand was; they had more than 180 different labels namechecked. Even a decade ago, it’s unlikely there would have been half as many. And even more are creeping in from overseas – a few years ago, Showroom 22’s client base was around 70% local brands – these days more than 50% of the companies they work with are international.
We still have our heritage brands that came to define the industry, like Karen Walker, Nom*D, Zambesi and Trelise Cooper, but there are also a whole host of new brands that, in recent years, have come to redefine what it means to be a part of the fashion industry in NZ. There’s Caitlin Crisp, which quickly gained legions of fans for the elegant, timeless and playful designs; Rebe, which has redefined the staple wardrobe; Olivia Cashmore with her effortlessly chic designs; and Porter James Sports, which has tapped into a new generation of menswear shoppers.
Claudia Li, Harris Tapper, and Kāhui Collective - showcasing six Māori and indigenous designers - all made impressive debuts at this year’s NZ Fashion Week Kahuria.
Other highlights included the Pacific Fusion Fashion Show, which brought together designers from Ah Tua, Daina Hugh, Funk N’ Soul97 and more, for a celebration of Pasifika talent. The Graduate Collections runway show compiled work from 18 designers at AUT, Massey University and Whitecliffe.
Rebe’s founder and designer, Rebe Healey, was named the inaugural winner of the Giltrap Group Helping Kiwis Fly – Fashion Edition Award, which, as reported in Viva’s extensive coverage of NZ Fashion Week, honours a designer beyond the earliest stage of their career but who can still be seen as representing the next wave of New Zealand fashion.
Despite the proliferation of and, as Bevan says, the “fragmentation” of the industry, both Bevan and Miller-Sharma highlight the need to support the new generation of designers coming into the industry, and creating a space for them to thrive and drive it forward as a key element of propping up New Zealand’s fashion scene as a whole.
Cashmore, who started her nominal brand in 2021, says New Zealand is “a great place to cut your teeth, refine your practice and hone in on your product”, adding that Kiwi shoppers “love supporting a New Zealand business”.
That is echoed by Chris Dobbs, founder of Working Style, which has been outfitting Kiwi men since 1987.
“I don’t think we would have survived as long as we have without that rich base of customers,” Dobbs says.
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Advertise with NZME.“We’ve got a really good model of being able to keep our client base, and they don’t move on because they like what we do and they come back for more; it’s all about retention.”
He explains that operating Working Style in New Zealand and the loyal nature of Kiwi customers has been “absolutely critical” to the brand’s success.
The resounding takeaway from most people interviewed for this article is that the industry is at a crossroads, but it’s leaning into the unique nature of the local industry and seeing that as a benefit that will help it thrive in this new era.
“Most of the businesses that I’m dealing with right now in New Zealand want, and need to, and are thriving off of the commerce of New Zealand customers,” Bevan says. You only need to look at the recently revived and refreshed NZ Fashion Week as an example of this. The event was officially opened by Judith Collins MP, who noted the industry’s contribution to the economy, and highlighted the importance of keeping the economy going.
The opening night was an homage to the industry’s iconic moments; there was Taika Waititi in archival Zambesi, Bic Runga in Kate Sylvester, a vibrant fuschia World gown from the brand’s 2006 collection, and the iconic Stolen Girlfriend’s Club x Karl Maughan vibrant garden print dress from 2011. It was an apt reminder that the answer to the industry’s issues might be within the country itself.
New Zealand’s isolation may be a contributor to the fashion industry’s struggles, but it is often through these difficulties that we can find the way to continue. Rather than seeing our position far from the rest of the world as a detractor, many people in the industry believe it is our best asset.
“I notice when I travel internationally, how brands like Ruby, Juliette Hogan, Kate Sylvester, Kowtow, especially if we’re talking about the northern hemisphere, they don’t exist in the same way,” Miller-Sharma says.
“I don’t think isolation is necessarily a weakness or a threat. I think that it provides us an opportunity to grow businesses that can be independent,” she adds.
Isolation breeds creativity, and it also creates the space for small businesses to thrive in a way that is far more difficult overseas in an industry dominated by fast fashion or expensive, luxury, international brands, with little space for those in the middle, like we have in NZ.
Bevan agrees.
“If you think about fashion, it is unique conversations, intimate conversations, small conversations. It’s a whisper, not a shout,” he says.
“That’s the future of New Zealand fashion. So be happy with a little campfire or niche that you can build. You don’t need a big stadium. You need a small business with loyal customers that love you and know you, and you know them.”
New Zealand is blessed to be small enough to enable these niches to still find success, and we have a client base that really wants to buy interesting, independent things. If we continue to bolster these homegrown brands, there’s every chance a new golden era of Kiwi fashion could bloom.
As Miller-Sharma puts it: “When you support a local clothing company, when you support a New Zealand clothing company, sure, you’re supporting that company, but you’re also supporting a significant number of businesses that work with that clothing company. Through spending that money, you’re part of something.”
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