North Islanders Set to Dominate New Zealand Fashion Week 2012

Over 40 designers are so far confirmed to show their Autumn/Winter 2013 to buyers, press, and guests this year at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre. All but one hail from across the ditch (2012’s event also gets the privilege of welcoming Australian designer Charlie Brown, who was confirmed last month), and the majority of those are brands based in the North Island — Dunedin’s Company of Strangers is alone in representing the South Island.

However NZFW managing director Pieter Stewart insists the ever-changing lineup of designers is one of the event’s draw cards, and this year certainly isn’t lacking in talent. Local fashion linchpins Huffer, Juliette Hogan, Zambesi, and Trelise Cooper will be staging guaranteed hot-ticket shows, while rising stars Ruby, Stolen Girlfriends Club, and Twenty-Seven Names invest the event with that edgy innovation that defines much Kiwi design. There will also be plenty of emerging local labels given the chance to make roads into lucrative overseas markets, much of them doing so via the exciting New Generation group show.

Sartorial powerhouses absent from the preliminary list include World, Karen Walker, and Nom D, who will likely be skipping NZFW for the second year in a row.

New Zealand Fashion Week 2012 designer announcement:

• A La Robe / Auckland

• Alma J / Auckland

• Andrea Moore / Wellington

• Anna Schimmel / Auckland

• Annah Stretton / Morrinsville

• Arielle Mermin / Tauranga

• Brady / Auckland

• Charlie Brown / Australia

• Christopher Woods-Huia / Auckland

• Company of Strangers / Dunedin

• Crane Brothers / Auckland

• Cybele / Auckland

• Daniel K / Auckland

• Deryn Schmidt / Wellington

• Dmonic Intent / Auckland

• Hailwood / Auckland

• Hohepa Thompson / Wellington

• Huffer / Auckland

• Ingrid Starnes / Auckland

• John Zimmermann / Auckland

• Juliette Hogan / Auckland

• Koia Gray / Wellington

• Liam / Auckland

• Marsh Ranginui / Whanganui

• Michelle Yvette / Auckland

• Monique Lynch / Auckland

• Olivia Edginton / Wainuiomata

• Pia Boutique / Auckland

• Poto Morgan / Ngaruawahia

• Ruby / Auckland

• Sable and Minx / Auckland

• Sera Lilly / Auckland

• Shona Tawhiao / Auckland

• Silence Was… / Auckland

• Stolen Girlfriends Club / Auckland

• Surface Too Deep / Wellington

• Trelise Cooper / Auckland

• Twenty-Seven Names / Wellington

• Vinka Design / Auckland

• Zambesi / Auckland