Sales are something that almost every shopper loves - a chance to get a great discount on beautiful things. But for fashion designers, for whom building a brand image is the one of the most important considerations, the great deals that please consumers are sometimes a mixed blessing.
Simon Pound, who runs fashion label Ingrid Starnes with his designer partner Ingrid, says fashion labels are forced into discounting at certain times of the year.
"We are very seasonally dictated in how we discount. Fashion is a funny business in that the beautiful things you make you then have to discount to make room for the next season of beautiful things!"
Karen Walker is another regular discounter - the label often has a 50 per cent-off end-of-season sale, which brings her Hi There range down from roughly $250 per dress to $125.
Pound said it's not just less-popular items that are discounted. "We have to discount styles that were very popular as well as slower styles, unlike other businesses where they only discount poor performers. So getting great fashion at a discount is a common thing for people in end-of-season sales."
He said the possibility that some shoppers might wait for the sales to purchase items was not as much of a worry for Ingrid Starnes as it was for bigger labels.
"Because of the work and fabrics that go into our pieces we make very few clothes, so people know that to be sure not to miss out they need to get in early."
Other ways to get a designer bargain include:
Trade MeThe first stop for many designer bargain-hunters is Trade Me, or eBay. The biggest problem with both sites is that it can be hard to know whether you are getting legitimate designer items, or cheap imitations. International brands on both are dicey unless you pay a significant amount - but local labels are freely available on Trade Me and are generally a great deal.
At the moment, Trade Me has many Karen Walker items for sale for less than $50, a Stolen Girlfriends Club shirt for $10 and a World dress for less than $5. Of course, buying from Trade Me means you can't try anything on but it's very easy to sell designer items on again if what you buy doesn't quite suit.
OpshopsLots of second-hand shops around the country are little treasure troves of designer bargains. There are the obvious options, such as Designer Boutique and Encore in Auckland and the opshops around Ellerslie and Remuera, but lots of small towns yield surprising bargains. I have found designer dresses for $10 in opshops in Kerikeri and Rotorua recently.
Many hospice shops nationwide have also recently developed an excellent system of separating out the best loot into a separate area, which means you have to spend a lot less time trawling through the racks to find something really special.
OnlineMany designers offer special deals if you order items online; sometimes the size range is a little more limited than you'd get in store. You can also get good deals from websites such as nzsale.co.nz, a site that combines a group of orders from New Zealand and gives buyers a discount on international labels. In the past week, it's had Nick & Mo dresses for $61, down from $129.