As mentioned, I exited London Fashion Week early to venture down to the City of Sails for their Fashion Week. This being my second visit to Auckland, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I was on a mission to touch base with the self-titled group “The New Zealand 4″ (a play on the Antwerp 6) which consists of NOM*D, Karen Walker, World and Zambesi who together showed in London in the late ’90s. In addition to the four, NZFW hosted over 30 shows both on and off site from the tents. Besides the week’s style events, I wanted to venture out and experience Auckland’s cultural offerings. I went with blogger Rumi Neely to visit New Zealand’s tallest building, Sky Towers, just before I took the ferry to Waiheke Island, which was first inhabited by a group of artists in the ’60s. The island is now more known for its world-renowned vineyards and sculpture gardens.
Special highlights include Nicole Miller‘s SS11 collection, which also showed in New York during their Fashion Week. Locally, Salasai put on an inspiring show and illustrated an encouraging sense of growth from last season. Then, there is Zambesi, which can simply be explained as PERFECTION this show could easily stand in any major market. From casting to grooming and show production, Liz Findlay’s brand still feels fresh and cool an accomplishment to acknowledge as Zambesi was launched in ’79.
Scroll through to look at some of my favorite moments in Auckland, in sequence.
Kristopher Arden-Houser, born in California, now lives and works between New York City and Antwerp. Collaborating with international brands, creative directors and editors alike, he recently sat on the master juries of both La
Cambre and the Royal Academy of Art in Belgium. Arden-Houser has contributed to T Magazine – NY Times (US), Vogue Italia (IT), British Vogue (UK), A Magazine Curated by (BE), Ponystep (UK), Fantastic Man (NL), Style.com (US) and LURVE Magazine (FR), among a myriad of other consulting and special projects. For more information, visit www.from1000.com
