New Year Honours: Marilyn Sainty a creator of missing links

Fashion designer Marilyn Sainty puts her success down to making what was missing in the local fashion scene during the seventies.

Young women "either dressed like their mother" or made their own clothes, and Ms Sainty was one of just a few designers who provided a modern, simple and original alternative.

The Auckland designer has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to the fashion industry.

"I just started making things for myself in my late teenage years and people started saying, 'Make me one', and it's been an evolving, organic learning process since."

Ms Sainty, who said she kept going when many did not, described her approach as intuitive, and her clothes appealed to a wide range of ages.

She could not pin down what people liked about her designs.

"When you're doing something you're not that conscious of it, but I have had a loyal following.

"What I remember most is having worked with a wonderful group of women. It's important that women have control over their lives."

Ms Sainty is a trustee of the Women's Loan Fund to help women into self-employment. She has also nurtured young designers, and was founder of the annual Artituture exhibition which showcased New Zealand furniture designs in the 1990s.

Ms Sainty retired this year, but will keep an interest in Scotties, four clothing shops she co-owns.