KEY POINTS:
Years ago now we did our first fashion show in London. Even though we'd been selling internationally for some time before, this was the first time we'd presented a runway show in one of the fashion capitals and it was a big deal. When we got home we had a weekend away snowboarding. At the lodge one night another guest congratulated us and asked "So, did you win?". He meant it literally.
You could call it a nod to a country whose interests have traditionally lain more in sports than aesthetics but I suspect it was more a hangover from the days when the Benson and Hedges Awards provided after-dinner entertainment in the name of fashion. A time when the loudest applause was saved for the item made out of 10,000 milk bottle tops rather than the freshest fashion. When people did shows to win a competition rather than build a brand and a business.
We started out at a time when this approach was winding down. Maybe in some ways we're partially responsible for the times changing and fashion here developing into the business of design. Either way, New Zealand's approach to fashion and fashion shows has matured since the 80s. Since our first show in 1989 we've learnt a lot of lessons about showing and here are nine of them. I know it feels like there should be 10 but as I write I'm on a flight to New York and in about 11 hours we start pre-production on this season's presentation so maybe the 10th lesson's just around the corner.
Lesson 1
Fashion shows aren't a wedding day. They're important to tell the story and present the idea but the show isn't the end. It's the beginning. The reason for a show is to make the sales - either to the industry or to your retail consumer. If the show doesn't create business you're either disorganised, the product's no good or you're what the fashion industry calls the crap avant-gardist - the one who sends the model down the runway in a dress made out of styrofoam with a disco ball on her head. Whatever the reason, you're not in the business of fashion.
Lesson 2
Make sure it's your audience at the show. There's no point having a room full of people who don't get your work sitting out there. Every one of those tickets is important so make sure they're in the right hands.
Lesson 3
Props and gimmicks aren't fresh. We used props in our first show at Australian Fashion Week in 1998 and it worked brilliantly but fashion moves on and this decade's not about gimmicks, its about 100 per cent focus on the clothes - everything on the runway has to have a reason for being and must be intrinsically connected to the work. Styling is about revealing the clothes. Not about decorating them. Props and gimmicks are otiose. A crutch. There's no excuse, ever, for putting an animal, a child or any other non-fashion item out there.
Lesson 4
Have a great team. The designer should just have to make decisions. Nothing more. And there shouldn't be any stress. Someone else should be there to worry about addressing the invitations, doing the seating plan, organising the caterers, checking all the models have turned up etcetera, so the designer's focus can be entirely on the clothes.
Lesson 5
Get to the point. Unless you're Yves Saint Laurent your show shouldn't have more than 35 looks. There's nothing more boring than a fashion show that runs past 15 minutes. You're meant to be presenting a point of view - not cataloguing everything on your rack - doing that just shows that you're insecure.
Lesson 6
Celebrity models seldom work. I've been guilty of it myself. At the behest of our London PR I've used a Rolling Stone daughter and a Rod Stewart daughter. Both lovely girls, but no one would claim them to be the greatest models on the planet. I drew the line the 3rd season when my PR was hard-selling another daughter of a celeb upon me. The photos live forever and the best girls available is the only path to take.
Lesson 7
Money doesn't guarantee a great show. A show's budget has very little relationship to the quality of the looks. It's the clothes that matter and no amount of big production values will disguise rubbish. Our first show in London had a budget of five quid and a case of beer. It was held at B Store in Conduit St. They emptied the clothes out of the store and we did hair, makeup and changes in a basement the size of my spare room. The girls walked up and down the shop and when twice as many people turned up as anticipated we got chalk and drew a runway down the footpath. No fancy lighting or sound system - the shop stereo was barely audible. And it worked. It was one of my favourite shows we've ever done.
Lesson 8
Stay as far away from the inviting and seating as possible. There's something about fashion shows that can bring out a strange side in people. Anyone you've ever had a passing association with thinks they should be invited even though the purpose of the show is for sales and media rather than entertainment for everyone in your address book.
Lesson 9
Be brave. It takes a lot of moxie to put on the runway something you've been working on for six months; to be unwavering and single-minded in your approach. But unless you are going to be single-minded in what you present, there's no point in you being there at all.
