Summer reissue: Buying secondhand clothing is one of the best ways to refresh a wardrobe without spending wads of money or contributing to the wasteful fast fashion industry. But there’s a fine art to finding pieces that are worth your time. First published August 2, 2020 I’ve never been hunting but I imagine, in a … Read more
Concerns have been raised about alleged patterns of inappropriate behaviour by two fashion photographers towards young women. It could mark the beginning of a reckoning for the industry, Ensemble‘s Zoe Walker Ahwa reports for Ensemble and The Spinoff. This story contains discussion of sexual harassment Allegations of inappropriate behaviour and an abuse of power by … Read more
Chloé Julian’s been supporting boobs for years under big names like Stella McCartney and Agent Provocateur. Now, home in New Zealand, she’s launched Videris, a lingerie line that focuses on comfort over everything. After 15 years working in the lingerie industry, Hamilton-raised Chloé Julian knows the ins and outs of bras and knickers more than … Read more
When broadcaster Sarah Gandy received her breast cancer diagnosis, she turned to two people who knew better than anyone what she was going through: her good friends Rebecca Wadey and Delaney Tabron. This story first appeared on Ensemble magazine. Broadcaster Sarah Gandy was inspired to conceive the Change and Check campaign she launched last month … Read more
In recent years, an influx of cheaply made clothes has had a devastating effect not only on our local industry, but the entire planet. Rose Jackson takes a look at the wider impact of fashion’s waste issue, in a piece originally published by Ensemble. It’s hard to know where this story starts. Does it begin … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to the founders of new fashion website Ensemble. When Bauer Media announced the closure of its operations in April, … Read more
Driven by a lack of meaningful diversity and an advertising industry in disarray, Rebecca Wadey and Zoe Walker Ahwa have launched Ensemble, a new online fashion, beauty and lifestyle website aimed at upending the traditional high-gloss magazine model. It wasn’t our intention to launch during a level three lockdown in Tāmaki Makaurau. Working in an … Read more
Buying secondhand clothing is one of the best ways to refresh a wardrobe without spending wads of money or contributing to the wasteful fast fashion industry. But there’s a fine art to finding pieces that are worth your time. I’ve never been hunting but I imagine, in a lot of ways, it’s similar to shopping … Read more
With Covid-19 devastating demand for global fashion brands, millions of jobs in Asia’s apparel factories hang by a thread. That’s why one New Zealand business has taken a different tack to keep its Cambodian staff working and well-cared-for. To the average consumer, there’s little discernible connection between Te Awamutu and the small Cambodian community of … Read more
The local fashion industry takes another hit with Ingrid Starnes closing its stores after more than a decade. Fashion brand Ingrid Starnes has announced it’s closing the retail arm of its business due to the impacts of Covid-19. Its new store opening in Commercial Bay on Thursday and its current store in Ponsonby will remain … Read more
While the pandemic will have a deadly effect on the local industry, New Zealand fashion was already in a fragile state before the coronavirus hit, writes former FQ editor Zoe Walker Ahwa. Most days at 1pm, like everyone else trying to find some semblance of structure in their life right now, I watch the government … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Offcut founder Adrien Taylor whose company takes fabric scraps destined for landfill and turns them into hats instead. ONE: How did Offcut start and what was the inspiration behind it? I started the … Read more
Self-described sneakerhead Dylan Moran on what drives collectors like him – and how stop-at-nothing resellers are distorting the market. You may have seen them – huddled masses of young people, perched on camping chairs with sleeping bags up to their ears, snaking along High Street or Queen Street in Auckland, or Dixon Street or Victoria … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week, he’s joined by Murray Bevan of Showroom 22. We’ve just seen the end … Read more
‘We call ourselves slow-fast fashion’. Ellen Falconer meets the young label working across hemispheres and subverting the traditional Fashion Week model. On a yacht moored in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour last Wednesday, a crowd of 50 fashionistas sipped gin cocktails and slipped their feet into towelling slides with the words ‘oh hej’ stitched across the top. … Read more
The duo behind the fashion and lifestyle blog Rally discuss working in the fashion industry and life as women of colour in Aotearoa. There are some numbers that register immediately for anyone working in the fashion and modelling industries. 32, 24, 34. 5 ft 10 in. The ‘ideal’ measurements for models. Leilani Momoisea, a self-described … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to sibling entrepreneurs Brittany and Johanna Cosgrove of Nopesisters, the social enterprise championing ‘fashion for a cause’. ONE: How did Nopesisters start and what was the inspiration behind it? Nopesisters started in October 2016 during Breast … Read more
Our story about the mislabelling of clothing produced by ‘Made in New Zealand’ brand WORLD has prompted a renewed conversation on the aspirations – and limits – of so-called ethical fashion. So what can consumers do to ensure the people who made their clothes are treated fairly? It wasn’t until recently that I started to … Read more
If Trelise Cooper is “deeply committed to strong ethical standards” she appears to have a funny way of showing it, says fellow fashion designer Denise L’Estrange-Corbet. This article was first published on Newshub.co.nz. Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet has slammed Kiwi designers who use third world labour to manufacture their clothing. The WORLD co-founder yesterday spoke to … Read more
Nearly a week on from the publishing of In plain sight, we collate a selection of responses from people involved in the fashion industry and the Pavement scene at the time. Since The Spinoff published In plain sight: behind the pages of Pavement magazine last week, more than 20 people from the New Zealand fashion world … Read more