Aussie fashion stores claim Kiwi designers as their own

SYDNEY - Cherie Blair's reference to Australians when she meant New Zealanders is catching on this side of the ditch.

Sydney's two main department stores are claiming the cream of New Zealand fashion designers as their own in the lead-up to their big winter-collections shows this week.

Designers such as Karen Walker, Kate Sylvester, Trelise Cooper, Sabatini White, Zambesi and Carlson feature in the displays of both Myer and David Jones, but acknowledgement about where they come from is relegated to small print.

White's clothes are on the cover of David Jones' winter catalogue, while Sylvester and Cooper are among the best selling labels at both stores.

But their garments appear on "Australian designers"-labelled coathangers at Myer.

"We don't really differentiate, no," Myer spokeswoman Tracy Baker told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Cooper and Carlson appear in David Jones' new advertising campaign under the headline of "We believe in Australian fashion because we believe in Australian designers".

There is acknowledgement of the pair being New Zealanders further down in its catalogue, but the store says it has claimed her (Tanya Carlson) "as our own" and that "we treat her (Cooper) like one of us".

A New Zealand fashion industry insider told the Herald: "You've claimed Russell Crowe as your own, now you're claiming Karen Walker and Trelise Cooper. If New Zealanders are such strong designers and you're buying them up left, right and centre, then create an area for us. You already have an existing international section."

- NZPA