It’s no secret that New Zealanders love black, and there was definitely a “black” mood on day one of New Zealand Fashion Week.
NOM*d kicked things off with a predominately black collection of sophisticated grunge garments for autumn/winter 15
Lela Jacobs followed with her collection Post-Dystopian. The presentation began with a “Dystopian” segment, followed by “Post-Dystopian” designs. “It’s like a double negative. It actually equals utopian without saying utopian,” Jacobs said.
Jason Lingard’s collection Anti drew inspiration from Marilyn Manson’s album Antichrist Superstar (1996). The collection was unashamedly “goth”, layering black upon black punctuated with texture.
Meadowlark’s Alchemy collection was inspired by the ancient magical science dedicated to the transmutation and the search for eternal life.
Stolen Girlfriends Club even handed out black ponchos for its outdoor show held at the speedway at Western Springs Stadium; and NOM*d issued black ear plugs for the presentation of its Noise collection.
Trelise Cooper brightened things up though she also put black on the runway too. She drew inspiration for her free spirited Cooper collection from rock festival Coachella. A collection that melded artisanal handicraft with romantic florals.
For her Trelise Cooper label “a dark romance” unfolded with black feathers and glittering onyx beads. There were also sculptural mid-calf skirts blooming with jumbo florals.
“I’ve surrounded by people who’ve been to Coachella and I’ve been in Ibiza, Mexico, Morocco. I got that vibe, I want to wear it myself and I just wanted to express that,” Cooper said. “And then the other half of me likes to be a little bit black and white and sculptural so it’s go two different personalities.”
Former unisex label Salasai put the focus on women. Its collection entitled Self Portrait featured childlike hand prints and billowy free-flowing midi length dresses and skirts, and feminine rosettes.
Stolen Girlfriends Club went for a “Twin Peaks vibe mixed with a little bit of camping and typical Stolen Girlfriends Club grunge” when designing its Guilty Ones collection. It also kept its sense of humour. One of its signature prints was titled ‘Death by Decaf”.
“It’s a bit of a mash up as per usual. We like to play with opposing themes and mash them together and see what comes out the other end,” Stolen Girlfriends Club co-designer Marc Moore said. “It’s a bit of a juxtaposition I guess but I really love this collection. It’s a real return to our roots. Lots of denim, leather and knitwear and I think it’s all the strong points of our brand and we are playing on it a bit more and being a bit smarter with our offering and channeling into what our girl and our guy wants to wear.”
The speedway at Western Springs was the runway for the Stolen Girlfriends Club offsite show. “It’s pretty bogan but we’ve got a bit of bogan in us so it suits us pretty well,” Moore said. “We like the idea of taking fashion to somewhere that’s kinda not fashion.”
