New Zealand designers have figure-hugging, positive
cuts but the themes tend to look back at earlier, perhaps more comfortable,
times
TOP: Philippa Beaton Rodeo singlet.
TOP RIGHT:
Laurie Foon.ABOVE: Andrea
Moore. LEFT: Caroline Church. BELOW:
Basquesse. RIGHT: Cybèle.
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‘10 things you didn’t know about Andrea Moore’
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UCIRE’S
home country of New Zealand is exploding with colour for the spring–summer
2006 season, as we preview the looks down under. A retro theme seems
to tie designers’ thinking together.
Philippa Beaton, who received her first international
coverage in Lucire, looks at the cowgirl of the 1850s with
the housewife of the 1950s, in her collection, Home at the Range.
Floral prints and cottons are used, but the designer has injected
some humour and fun into the prints. It’s a welcome development
for Beaton.
Reds play a part in Beaton’s spring collection,
which is something that Laurie
Foon—Lucire’s first interviewee back in 1997—has
also tapped in to with her Black Swan collection.
Foon cooperated with textile designer Avis Higgs,
who made her name back in the 1940s.
When red is mentioned, Wellington designer Andrea
Moore springs to mind. Her spring collection, entitled Traveller,
is based on a woman who picks separates as she does her continental
jaunts—a theme that is not unlike some of the earlier Zang
Toi collections’ in New York.
Prints also feature greatly. Caroline Church,
similarly tapping into a retro mood, looks to the 1940s with her
Past Lives collection. Taking a different tack, but resulting in
similar raw shades of gold and brown is Cybèle’s African-inspired
Hot, Cool and Vicious collection for spring–summer 2005–6.
Masai jewellery is cited by Cybèle as an inspiration, and
the title of the collection pays tribute to hip-hop group Salt ’n’
Pepa. Finally, Basquesse, a constant favourite of Lucire,
uses Bastille Day as a springboard for its spring line.
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