Lonely Hearts Club designers have much in common

Aimee McFarlane (left) and Helene Morris find they have a great deal in common.

They started off as fellow snowboarders working winters in Colorado and now they have their own fashion label together.

"Aimee McFarlane studied fashion and I studied graphic design," says Helene Morris about the origins of Wellington-based label Lonely Hearts Club.

"Then we did a couple of snowboarding seasons together and travelled and we realised that, style-wise, we had really similar ideas."

When Morris and McFarlane returned to New Zealand in 2003 they decided to set up business together.

The original idea was to make streetwear with interesting, original graphics.

"But we got sick of just doing T-shirts pretty quickly."

Although, they still make T-shirts, the Lonely Hearts Club collection now contains items as diverse as silk dresses, oversize hoodies, waistcoats and winter jackets.

The resulting look, on the runways for the first time this year and well received by both local and international onlookers, is feminine and slightly twisted, but still with that streetwear edge.

When they're making clothes, this design team who have so much in common occasionally arrive at work wearing the same or similar outfits. As a rule, McFarlane does the pattern-making and Morris looks after the graphics.

"We do heaps of drawing and sampling and we also dye our own fabrics," Morris says. "We have a sense of humour in common and that comes through too. For instance, for next winter's range they talked about the sea as inspiration - but it was anything but romantic visions of deep blue depths, and wide-open spaces.

"We started talking about fish and chips and Popeye," Morris says.

The prints that resulted include one that has a amusing scattering of giant chips. The collection is called Washed Up.

Where other designers may be motivated by various types of fabrics, the women at Lonely Hearts Club are moved by the pictures they create.

"When I think about the graphics, I definitely have a piece of clothing in mind," Morris says. "The two factors feed off each other."