By Samantha Hayes
It's day two of Fashion Week's runway shows and there's much talk of how the economy is impacting the industry.
You certainly wouldn't see it in Paris or Milan, but two Kiwi designers joined forces today, sharing everything including the same 12 models and similar hair and make-up looks so they could be part of New Zealand Fashion Week without a huge cost.
Labels are being hit by the high Kiwi dollar, people aren't spending as much as they used to and sponsorship is getting harder to come by. So for these guys it was a choice of either showing together, or not at all.
Cheeky Wellington designers Twenty-Seven Names started their show a little backwards, with the finale. It was a move which allowed more time to morph the models into their second look for the elegant Auckland label of designer Ingrid Starnes.
She says working together made sense financially.
“At the moment financially it's such a great idea and I really love their stuff,” says Starnes.
Twenty-Seven Names designer Anjali Stewart says the feeling is mutual.
“We're not worried about the ego of not having our own show, we're just really excited to be showing, and Ingrid is awesome.”
They could be mistaken for high school students, but it's Rachel Easting and Anjali Stewart's sixth year showing at fashion week.
“Rachel and I are short so people think we're really young but we are getting on a little. We have been doing the brand for a long time now,” says Stewart.
It’s only Starnes’ second show, and Fashion Showroom director Murray Bevan says that without the shared approach neither would have been on the bill.
“This year, definitely not. Absolutely not. The entry point for fashion week for them to show on site would have been too cost prohibitive for them so they were left with no other option but to come together, pool resources and find a solution,” he says.
And that does have a downside.
“Slight compromises we might have had to make are model choices and small things like that, that neither us nor Ingrid concerned with – we have a similar aesthetic,” says Stewart.
Having a joint show means fixed costs can be shared. There's sound and lighting, and of course the fee to be part of NZFW. But sponsorship does cover a lot – catering, hair and make-up – and the show can be put on for $10,000. That’s not bad when one show last year cost over $100,000.
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