Augustine owner Kelly Coe and husband Nathan. Photo/supplied
Augustine owner Kelly Coe and husband Nathan. Photo/supplied
Fashion is one of those things that is close to most women's hearts. Whether you love tinkering as the stylist within your friends' circle or you just splash out and get dressed up for that one night out, it's something that intrigues people.
Kelly Coe, the founder of the popular Augustine International and Charlo labels, has recognised that and says she has focused on talking to the whole country, because that is who her customers are.
Kelly grew up in Tauranga, and she has a store in Mount Maunganui. Her role as a fashion designer entails something different every day.
"Some days I am designing new collections, doing photoshoots for new drops, selling into wholesalers, working the shop floor in one of our stores, or planning marketing ideas with the team to promote our upcoming products. It's busy and varied and so much fun."
Even fashion designers have famous fashion icons, it seems. Kelly says she loves how Victoria Beckham is daring and has evolved her style throughout the years, and that Blake Lively's red carpet outfits are "always perfection".
And a personal touch because she loves the bright print clashes and crazy pieces together, Gwen Stefani is a winner.
Augustine has a huge following on social media so Kelly says her own style is actually really well known to her followers.
"My style is very colourful, playful, fun and carefree. I don't wear many structured garments, I love free-flowing and oversized floaty tops with a more fitted skirt or jeans. I only wear colour.
It is very rare that I would wear much black at all. I love prints and love to mix prints together, with florals and geo prints all mashed together." While Kelly's style sometimes pushes the boundaries, her audience gets to see daily photos on Facebook of what she's wearing, or how she styles things, so nothing could really surprise them anymore.
Kelly loves using lots of necklaces with her clothing and over time the concept of earrings is growing on her.
"I am currently all about the long tassel or feather earrings, lots of colour and the bigger the better." She says she has a real soft spot for off-shoulder tops and dresses at the moment.
"A great floaty off-the-shoulder top in a vibrant print, worn with cut off denim and some big earrings and glam sandals, is my summer go to."
She hates that New Zealand women have such an emphasis on black.
Kelly Coe
"A plain black outfit is just so dull and doesn't make me excited about life ... it has its place but we use it too much." For Kelly it's about embracing colour, and women still taking the time to make themselves look lovely as they get older or have children.
"I hate seeing beautifully dressed kids, with a mum that looks like she put herself last. We all deserve a little time and effort to feel great about ourselves."
Kelly is shifting offices this week so it's on to bigger and better things. Each month, a new collection is dropped so there's a huge variety on the way. Later this year there's even a new label being released. Kelly says that she "creates pieces that I know are practical yet beautiful and wearable in our New Zealand environment".
"My inspiration is always to make women feel amazing in colour, and experiment with something new."
