The people in the Fashion Week crowd that really matter are the ones who can make or break a label - the buyers.
There are the bloggers busy having their photo taken, and there are the newspaper hacks taking notes. There are the stylists dashing after the models backstage, while the hairdressers and the makeup artists primp and preen another. The designer quietly panics in the corner. There are the TV presenters sitting in the front row, chatting candidly to the fashion editor sitting beside them. There are the friends and family, politely standing in general admission. And sitting somewhere among all this are the buyers, quietly deciding whether or not they should open up their purse and help the designer survive for another season.
More than 150 buyers will attend shows at NZFW this week, arriving in Auckland from around New Zealand and beyond. Many of the international buyers are from Australia - New Zealand's biggest export market - with others attending from Japan and the US. Agencies from Hong Kong, Ireland and Canada will also be front row - these are companies that represent various fashion brands and sell to a market on their behalf. And while the bloggers get the column inches ("they're changing the face of fashion"), the front row celebrities get their pictures taken ("Petra Bagust is wearing Kate Sylvester") and the media scrutinise ("Is that a Prada rip off?"), these buyers quietly go about the business of fashion. For many younger labels without their own store to sell and showcase the collection they are presenting on the runway this week, these buyers hold their fate in their hands and wallets. Because if they don't buy, a designer has a whole bunch of samples - but nowhere to sell them. For labels that do have their own retail space, stockists are just as important: most labels can't afford to have a boutique in every centre of New Zealand. Well, unless they are Annah Stretton.
So how does it work?
The clothes you see on the racks of your favourite boutique have been carefully selected by the store's buyer, who takes into consideration the key trends of the season; labels generating buzz, specific garments generating buzz, what their customers tend to buy, and how all the pieces will fit together as a whole. This involves meeting with the designer or sales manager months before the pieces hit the shop floor, where they will be shown each piece in the new season's collection and talked through how it has been put together. Good buyers are puzzle masters, making sure all the pieces fit together, as well as fortune tellers, predicting what the key pieces of the season will be, and making sure they'll have those pieces.
One such buyer who is in Auckland for NZFW this week is Emma Taylor from Angel Divine in Queenstown. Taylor has attended NZFW for the past four years, selecting pieces for the store's winter season. At the moment the store stocks the likes of Zambesi, Nom*D, Cybele, Twenty-seven Names, Karen Walker and Kathryn Wilson, as well as non-NZFW participants Kate Sylvester, Helen Cherry, Workshop, Company of Strangers and Chaos and Harmony. And while the fashion week stereotype may involve a whole lot of swanning about drinking champagne, Taylor's week is a tad more full-on than that. "I'm out the hotel door at 9am making sure I've had a good breakfast to get me through the day, which consists of meeting with designers we stock to see their ranges one on one, and attending shows in between these appointments. Most days I would have four or five meetings, and probably attend three or four shows." There's not a lot of time for after-partying. "I usually end up back at the hotel around 10pm after the last show of the day and I like to go through all my notes and generally tick off what we would be ordering while it's fresh in my mind."
As Justin Lock of Perth boutique Wasteland says, "Contrary to public opinion, we are there to work and it is usually far more demanding than it may appear - there really is a lot of ground to cover, and a buying matrix to complete."
NZFW is an important part of his purchasing agenda, and he has come over for the event for the past five years or so.
For Rickie Dee of Auckland boutique Superette, fashion week buying actually starts the week before in Sydney. "There we buy Sass & Bide, Ksubi, Camilla & Marc and others, so we are pretty shattered before the week even starts."
2010 is Dee's ninth year attending NZFW, and this year she says she and her team will definitely attend the shows that the labels they stock put on (Stolen Girlfriends Club, Twenty-seven Names, Salasai). "We would love to see a show for every collection but usually our buying weeks and trips are manic, and we only have an hour slot for each designer. Appointments are the only way to see every piece in great detail in the allocated time."
But if time is so precious for buyers during NZFW, it has to be asked: are the shows pointless? Some buyers don't even attend NZFW and they still manage to fill their shops with new season pieces. Billie & Rose in Perth is one of the biggest Australian stockists of Twenty-seven Names and Lonely Hearts, but will not be attending NZFW. Their buyer Sinead English says that unfortunately she has never made it to NZFW although she has always wanted to. "The main reason being that while we are crazy about New Zealand labels here at Billie, most of the [designers] make the trek over for Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, or have Australian agents."
Suzanne Winterflood owns Gisborne boutique Mrs Parker, which stocks a strong range of local brands who are showing this week (Cybele, Juliette Hogan, Salasai and Kathryn Wilson). She isn't attending NZFW this year, and hasn't done since 2007.
"In the first year I rushed eagerly up to Auckland and saw as many shows as possible. I haven't gone the past two years. For me, viewing the ranges in a one-on-one situation is a much better way to decide on what to stock. I've picked up several new labels this season, including Salasai and Whywho shoes, partly because the designers came to see me with their sample range." Winterflood isn't averse to the idea of attending NZFW however. "If I was in Auckland I'd pop in to see a couple of shows, but this year there's nothing that tempts me enough to fork out for the cost of flights, accommodation and so on."
For her, shows are like the cherry on the top of a week of appointments.
"There's nothing quite like the buzz of a live show, but realistically, I can see everything online. Viewing the range one-on-one with the sales manager or designer, seeing the designs and the fabrics up close and being talked through how the collection it put together is far more important for me.
"Attending designers' shows is an interesting way to see how they express their vision for the season, and also a thank you for stocking and promoting their label."
Therein lies the point of shows: they aren't generally for the purpose of buying, they're for generating press and buzz. And while some bemoan this fact, many of the buyers who contribute to the business-side of the week see it as going hand in hand with what they do. Creating brand awareness is part of the appeal for many designers, something that Lock thinks some of our designers could devote more attention to "as it makes the product easier to end sell".
Taylor of Angel Divine thinks it is essential, for young designers especially, to build good PR from the beginning. "It's a lot easier to sell a new label in store if customers have seen or heard about it, whether it's in a magazine or in social networking media, it all helps."
For Winterflood too, the press generated can influence her buying. "If one of my labels features a stand-out piece that generates a lot of press, of course I'll order it."
Rachelle Duffy of Idiom Boutique in Tauranga sums up the dichotomy nicely. "From a buyer's point of view, a show is always going to be fun to attend, but from a business point of view a private appointment plays an integral part of the business." Tracy Whittaker is a buyer for online store Fashion Artiste and will be attending shows this week. "I don't think it's essential to see the garments on a catwalk before buying but it is a great way to see how the clothes really look on and get outfit ideas. I think you get more of a feel for the range as a whole when it is presented in a show. It doesn't usually impact the amount we buy as we have a pre-determined budget, but it does sometimes depend on how many wines we get offered at the show!" She may be joking just a little bit, but the environment of a show can make the difference between a small order and a big order. "Watching the show is so inspirational - it gives you a good insight of what a collection is all about," explains Vivien Westbrook of Brisbane boutique Lylah. "It's hard because I have a budget I try to stick to. In saying that, if I see it is a strong collection, I will spend more and cut down on another."
And while buzz is essentially good for a label and in turn the buyer, sometimes there can be too much focus on that. Winterflood, also a fashion writer, questions the choice of international guest designers.
"From a buyers' point of view, they're not usually a designer that many local stores are realistically going to be interested in stocking.
"Personally I'd like to see that money spent on showcasing more local designers and helping them sell their ranges. Times are tough for designers and retailers, so any extra effort spent on helping them achieve sales would be welcome."
