Designer vows to beat the thieves

By CLAIRE TREVETT


Days before the biggest week in the fashion calendar, an emerging designer has had nearly her entire line stolen.

Nadine Freundlich's Kingsland shop was broken into and stripped of $36,000 of stock within minutes.

She said people living above the shop heard someone kicking in the door about 4am last Friday.

They rang the police, then went down to the shop, but the racks had been emptied of about 150 garments, including a lot of Ms Freundlich's summer range.

The New North Rd shop, which opened five months ago, was left with just 45 pieces.

But Ms Freundlich is determined not to be distracted from her chance to show her designs to international buyers on the New Zealand Fashion Show catwalk in 10 days.

The patterns and fabrics for the 32 garments she was making for Fashion Week were hidden in a back room and were untouched.

"So I was very lucky and very blessed - that's how I look at it. I take all the samples and work home with me now."

She was fully insured, but the burglary means she has had to close her shop until she can replenish the stock.

"Everyone is flat out with Fashion Week and end-of-season production until November, so I won't be able to get the shop going again until the end of November."

Freundlich said all the stolen garments were made by hand and only six to eight versions of each garment had been made.

The haul included a conspicuous red coat, of which only five were made.

The coat had featured in an advertisement for i-River and in Air New Zealand's in-flight magazine.

Ms Freundlich is the second emerging clothing designer to be hit by a night-time raid in Kingsland.

In May, Lucie Boshier's shop was broken into and most of the stock taken.

Ms Freundlich said she did not know if it was by the same group of people.

"The police said people who do this don't do it randomly."

Herald Feature: Fashion Week

NZ Fashion Week