Top Smoky quartz with black maire wood pendant and hand-stitched antique brass chain. Above Fluorite and silver earrings, part of the Atanga (join, adorn and beautify) range from Nga Waiata.
From the department stores of Barney’s in New York to the boutiques of Paul Smith in London, to the hands and necks of New Zealand’s stylish, Nga Waiata and her jewellery are receiving wide acclaim.
But it hasn’t been without hard work and dedication. She has worked hard to get to where she is today, building important relationships with the right people to ensure that her unique designs and beautifully crafted jewellery are in places where they will be best showcased to the world. Her strategy has paid off with enquiries coming from far afield as Spain and Norway.
While her rings have garnered her a loyal following, she is feeling more confident now, having recently branched out and expanding the brand to feature pendants, using the same beautiful native woods paired with unique crystals chosen for their special healing and beneficial powers. Next will be cuffs and bracelets.
The pendants feature hand-cut crystals and native wood strung on to hand-stitched chains. Each piece of jewellery is specially chosen for the wearer and unique to the person; along with that, each piece come with its own personal handwritten note.
Nga Waiata has also recently collaborated with local Wellington jeweller Stephen Parker to produce a range of silver and crystal earrings.
Her new creations were shown alongside the Blak Luxe collection at this year’s New Zealand Fashion Week outing. She gained an even bigger audience to appreciate her work and they were the perfect match for the dark, edgy glamour of Teresa Hodges.—Sopheak Seng, Fashion and Beauty Editor
The Miromoda designers will show at Wellington, New Zealand’s TSB Arena as part of the Real New Zealand Festival on September 30. As a first-come, first-served special, the tickets are now available from Ticketek at a two-for-one special price of NZ$70 for general admission, or a discounted price of NZ$40 each.
A designated trade area will feature items from the catwalk as well as high-end fashion-related Māori products. Trade stands will include an exhibition of 10 stunning kakahu, Māori ceremonial cloaks. VIP tables—which cost extra—will be serving Tohu wine as well as Māori-infused food platters.
Portland, Oregon—the city of fashion-forward, independent designers and sustainability—will be demonstrating its own brand of runway show for the spring–summer 2012 season, with some of the most publicized designers from TV.
Last year’s Portland Fashion Week had already heated up as a winner and finalists from Project Runway season 7 joined on the runway and completely stole the show.
This year’s designer line-up is even more exciting and already spreading a buzz across the nation.
From Project Runway, Seth Aaron, a winner of season 7 will come back to the Portland Fashion Week and take the runway along with a finalist, Jay Nicolas Sario (shown above). From season 8, Michael Costello will showcase his 28-piece resort collection on Saturday, October 8. From the current season 9, Becky Ross, recently eliminated from the competition, will be a contestant of the Catapult emerging designers’ competition. Bryce Black, also recently eliminated from season 9, will be joining among other Project Runway alumni on the 8th.
Along with those high-profile Project Runway alumni, world-class sustainable designers like Anna Cohen, Ethos Paris, and Lenzanita will show off their own creativity and design in eco-fashion lines, while top Portland brands like Stephanie D. Couture, Ms Wood, Collier, and Amai Unmei will contribute with their local flavour.
Portland Fashion Week will be held at the Vigor Industry Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, from October 5 to 8.—Yuka Murai
Designers’ line-up October 5
House of Gunter
Grishley
Michelle is Well
Silkwood Collection
Chicago Harper by Studio SKB
AM Renegade
Moontess
Lizz Basinger Designs
Becky Ross for Wicked Quick (Project Runway season 9)
October 6 Leaders in Athletic Wear
Adidas
Respect Your Universe (marial-arts inspired)
Grenade (skateboard wear)
Earthtec (athletic wear)
Leading Sustainable Designers of the World
Ethos Paris (spring–summer 2012)
Lenzanita
Avni
Imperial Knits Collection, Creative Director Anna Cohen (fall)
Anna Cohen in collaboration with Imperial Ranch and Earthtec (introduction)
October 7
Amai Unmei (spring–summer 2012)
Stephanie D. Couture (spring–summer 2012)
Ms Wood (spring–summer 2012)
Collier (fall and spring 2012)
Seth Aaron (spring–summer 2012)
New Zealand-based e-tailer Papershoes has launched, giving Kiwi buyers more peace of mind without getting stung for duty, or having the wrong size or colour delivered.
The brainchild of Helen Gould, Amber Easby and Alexis Brooks, who had spent time in New York and London before returning to New Zealand, Papershoes aims to provide Kiwi women with a stylish, on-trend range of international and domestic brands.
Pricing is said to match what buyers would find on overseas sites but without the hidden costs, while refunding or exchanging is a local phone call away. Same-day delivery in Auckland is available, with an extra charge.
Labels represented include Acrobats of God, Bass, Bloch, Minimarket, Minnetonka, Raffia Chic and Swedish Hasbeens, and hosiery from Hansel from Basel and We Love Colors.
The Spanish jewellery brand, Carrera y Carrera, has let us know that singer Jennifer López has donned its Tiger ring in white gold with diamonds, at the iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday. It says it is the third time López has worn its jewellery, the other two times on American Idol.
Meanwhile, our friends at Cambodia Fashion Week has announced its confirmed list of designers for CFW 2011. Remy Hou, who will have the largest show with his Engineered by Remy label in the ten-day event, has dressed the likes of John Legend, Justin Bieber and Marlon Wayans. In Melbourne, Neisha Smith, with her eponymous, environmentally conscious label Neisha, has released her latest range, Old Skin, New Skin. The collection features 31 one-off garments, produced with zero-waste cutting methods. The offcuts from one garment formed the base structure for the next.
Neisha, a graduate of Massey University, has constantly looked for ways to bridge the gap between ethics, art and fashion.
The Lacoste Live campaigns, which some readers will have seen on this site, has shifted to another cool location for autumn–winter 2011–12: Berlin.
Lacoste Live—or L!ve, to use the brand’s own moniker—is the company’s youth-oriented line, and was characterized in its first season with photography by American photographer Mark Hunter, a.k.a. the Cobra Snake, and its Paris locations.
Hunter has shot the second season, featuring young Berliners who venture to the Icon, a nightclub in the north of their city.
Earlier this month, Lacoste released a video in which users can interact with the characters’ story. As Lacoste tells it: ‘you get to customize the player, into split or merged screens, and the soundtrack (by French DJs Club Cheval), as they meet up at Alexanderplatz station, hang out together and stroll through the city, and end the night partying in one of the city’s music scene reference.’
The Lacoste Live website has also been refurbished for autumn, and fans can check in to its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/lacostelive.
Pippa Middleton was the celebrity that colleagues wrote about on day five of London Fashion Week, with her appearance at the front row of Temperley London. The Temperley spring–summer 2012 collection itself was feminine, flowing, and had a tasteful use of silks and extensive vintage detailing.
Mary Katrantzou’s collection made us notice. We had seen plenty of colour emerge this season in days one through four, but we didn’t expect her to surpass some of her more extravagant past designs with intricate patterns and print-covered outfits. Katrantzou’s inspiration was the collision of natural and industrial forms, with plumage and foliage clashing with embroidery, beading and Swarovski crystals.
Meadham Kirchhoff’s spring collection was upbeat and fun, with baby doll, apron and pompom dresses, leotards, and tutus. Look closely and everything is well crafted and well tailored—which is why Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff continue to get admirers and grow their reputations.
Amanda Wakeley upped the glamour in her spring–summer 2012 show. There was plenty of volume and we saw the return of draping, allowing her fabrics to flow with ease in dresses and kaftans. The colour palette was restrained to begin with, but got increasingly colourful toward the end with gold, burnt orange and light blue.
Other videos include Louise Gray, Jordan Askill, Roksanda Ilincic, Osman, Aquascutum, Designers’ Remix, Kinder Aggugini, David Koma, Danielle Scutt, Tata Naka and Aminaka Wilmont, with a day five highlight reel at the end.
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