Enjoy a piece of Milan's fashion chic

Angela Wickstead. Photo / Babiche Martens

Balenciaga, Prada, Lanvin, Chloe, Marc Jacobs, Comme des Garcons ... it's enough to make even the most fashionably indifferent swoon. Aucklanders will have the opportunity to purchase pieces from those designers and more next week when Angela Wickstead presents a carefully edited collection as part of her Wickstead Designer Shopping Events.

The glamorous Wickstead, who is decked out in Prada when I meet her in Ponsonby, used to be based in Auckland, where she worked as a fashion designer for more than 10 years. That was before she fell for an Italian man and made the move to the fashion mecca that is Milan. It's a fabulous existence, and Wickstead herself admits she would find it difficult to move back here.

"It's such a neat life, you miss it when you are away from it. I hardly use the car, I prefer to walk to take it all in - if I don't go into town for a week, I have to go in just to take a look around."

It is, of course, quite different to the lifestyle here; as is the fashion. "A lot of women aren't confident with themselves here. In Milan, everyone is into looking good, you just look good and there is so much attention to that."

Wickstead lives close to the centre of Milan, and a typical day involves walking her dog to the park, visiting the gym, and walking down Via della Spiga to look at store windows and take in the fashionable sights.

"Dolce & Gabbana have opened a big restaurant complex called Gold, so that's my local and where I have my coffee on my way home." Like most Europeans, she travels quite extensively too - she visits Auckland twice a year for her designer shopping events, frequents London where her daughter is based, sometimes travels to Spain and France, and visits the country on the weekends. She's charmingly self-deprecating about her seemingly glamorous life though. "It's like going to Hamilton or Tauranga, except the names are far more exotic!" she jokes.

Of course, it's not all play and no work - visiting suppliers and buying for her collections takes up a lot of her time. Wickstead visits Auckland and London twice a year with her collections, which are carefully tailored for each city. She says that in London, girls wear "very, very short skirts. They like legs, and really high shoes. They're a little bit more tacky in London; because everything is about going out there".

Her clients in Auckland are far more restrained. "Here, women buy special, specific pieces," says Wickstead, who has quietly been bringing twice-yearly collections to Auckland for the past three years. The range she brings here - which will be presented at an exclusive cocktail party and fashion show at The Northern Club next week, with a three-day sale at Mollies beginning on the Friday - is tailored to suit her clients, some of whom have been with her since she was a designer herself.

It's these skills as a designer that help her edit and build a collection of pieces from various designers, including clothes and accessories for men and women from Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Balenciaga, Armani, Zegna, Tod's, Lanvin, Chloe, Miu Miu, Robert Cavalli, Costume National, Fendi and more. And while there is a focus on our current season collections, Wickstead says it's not so much about keeping up with the latest fashions.

"If I see a piece from an old collection I think is really amazing, like a Balenciaga or a Lanvin, that you just know doesn't have a date, I'll buy it and put it into the sale. People simply love beautiful things, as opposed to 'fashion' so much."

It's a special type of European chic that has influenced her own style as much as her business. "In Europe it's not very hip to be too fashion. When I go to the shows for fashion week, people don't arrive in head-to-toe new season outfits, unless they're a movie star who has been dressed by the label. People tend to mix the old and the new, and it's far more interesting."

If you're interested in finding out more or shopping at the designer sale, contact Angela on 021 027 33294.