KEY POINTS:
Huddled in a corner of the Ricochet workroom, the designers contemplate a wall covered with tiny fabric samples, magazine clippings, and sketches of elaborate garments.
In the months leading up to their debut show at Fashion Week, Tatjana Windhager and Rebecca Maguire have rearranged their scrapbook collection many times while perfecting their sample collection for winter 2008.
This cluttered corner may represent their source of inspiration, but the pair are reluctant to talk details to an outsider.
"The key words are animal instinct, medieval and cat woman," says Maguire cryptically.
Well that explains the chain mail hanging from the wall. But have there been any cat fights across the cutting table in the build-up to Fashion Week?
"We're very verbal but we talk with ease," explains Windhager.
In the confines of the Ricochet fashion empire, it seems the transition from garment conception to completion is a smooth one.
"Actually the most emotional time is when we have finished the last garment," says Windhager.
For a brand with a reputation for clever styling and practical wearability, the pair's design process is equally intriguing.
"We work organically," says Maguire, "and it's okay to move the day around."
Adds Windhager: "We let it evolve."
Ricochet, it seems, has been evolving since Windhager and her then-partner Nicola Gillies launched the label in 1993 with the idea of making designer clothing accessible to most women.
In 1999, the pair brazenly took over Auckland's Fanshawe St carpark for a freebie fashion show starting at midnight.
Four years ago, shortly after Maguire joined Ricochet as the new designer, the fashion moved on from the parking building to exhibit at Auckland's Michael Lett Gallery.
The brand has spread throughout the country, with signature stores in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and 30 other boutique outlets stocking its range. Fans can track the label as far afield as Invercargill and Melbourne.
The ambiguity of the designs, say the design team, is "vital" to the label's success.
In plain speak this means garments can be worn in various ways - either dressed up or casually.
It's a philosophy that's clearly working for them: After 14 years, Ricochet is a multimillion-dollar business, and most of its garments are proudly made in New Zealand.
The path to fashion prosperity hasn't been entirely smooth going.
When Windhager and Gillies opened their store in Auckland's High St in November 1997, top designers were rattled, accusing them of churning out cheap copies of their garments.
Windhager screws up her face at the very mention of a controversy that made the Herald's front page and caused friction with fellow designers.
Still, she is not keen to dredge up old wrangles just before the label's important outing at Fashion Week.
A few days later, the pair issue a statement through their PR representative, Chris Lorimer from Mint Condition.
"Historical claims of our team copying other designers' work have been greatly exaggerated."
Windhager is much happier talking about the reasons for staging a solo show after seven years of observing Fashion Week hype from the sidelines.
"We're really excited to be bringing our unique vision to the runway."
Although the label is well known and well-loved by a loyal customer base, the pair have their sights set on extending their profile as designers and reaching a new audience overseas.
Meeting the Fashion Week deadline, though, meant cancelling their annual overseas buying trip. "Actually it was better not to go [overseas] as it made us more focused," says Windhager.
Maguire agrees. "Yes, we were more focused on the designs."
If the inspiration wall is anything to go by, the Lorimer-produced show, with makeup by Shiseido's Hiro Nemoto, looks set to surprise those critics who have previously dismissed the label's streetwear collections.
And nearly every item is produced by the Ricochet team.
"Everything the audience will see on the catwalk is made by us - bar the shoes," says Maguire.
So you'd imagine the pair would be keen to rest after their first outing at Fashion Week.
"We can't wait to start on some new samples," says Maguire.
"We think of our collections as if it's our wardrobe - and as women, do we ever get enough?" says Windhager.
In fashion speak, it's called the ricochet effect.
