Caitlin Snell is known for her playful and sustainably minded hairbows. With her debut runway show ‘The Maiden’, the emerging designer will signal the next steps to an invested local fashion scene.
Sometimes, an accessory from a local designer cements itself as a part of the fashion zeitgeist in Aotearoa
Examples include pieces from household names, like Karen Walker’s Runaway Girl necklace, or smaller labels like Baobei’s glossy heart pendant.
Caitlin Snell’s precise bows are another.
The designer’s structural and seriously merry hair accessories have struck a chord with New Zealand’s fashion crowds.
The embellishment has been clipped into hairstylings everywhere from the stage at Spark Arena, where American singer-songwriter Wallice donned two cream satin bows with braids, to the crowds at Kahuria: New Zealand Fashion Week 2023. Stockists from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to Ōtautahi Christchurch have integrated the bows into their offerings (perhaps urged on by a corresponding global surge in popularity).
The fanfare has kept Caitlin Snell busy. It’s also primed her to celebrate a moment of change.
“I want to find the joy in the craft again because I have been making hundreds and hundreds of hairbows. Now, I feel really excited to take on a new direction with clothing.”
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Advertise with NZME.This new direction is one the young designer will mark tomorrow, with a celebratory first in Auckland. Caitlin Snell will showcase new pieces at Studio One Toi Tū with “The Maiden” runway show and exhibition. Preparation for the moment has been motivating and full of anticipation.
“It’s quite an anxious process putting yourself out there. My whole label has been done digitally – I think I want to change that, put myself out there more.”
“The Maiden” will signal a larger shift in her label’s era. Recently, Caitlin announced she would be pivoting to work on her namesake label full-time, leaving her position as a UX designer at a tech start-up, and moving out of Auckland.
It’s an exciting and somewhat surprising moment for the emerging designer, who explains her label began “very accidentally”.
The Caitlin Snell label was launched in 2021, when she designed an anti-fog mask covering, embellished with dramatic bows. The mask, a meeting of function and fashion, garnered interest from people in Pōneke where she was studying fashion design at Massy University (she says her first brushes with fashion came during A&P shows in Hawke’s Bay where she grew up – where she submitted silk dresses covered in paint as a teenager).
After university, she would go on to work as a machinist for Auckland-based luxury handbag brand Georgia Jay, utilising her tertiary training in leatherwork.
Her hairbows were a similar story to the label’s first design – she found inspiration for the accessory in the bounds of her personal style and began to produce more as interest grew. Pulling fabrics from deadstock, the end of fabric rolls and scraps, she began to produce distinct hairbows using low-waste patterns.
The fanfare grew with various collaborations, as she worked with other emerging designers like Grace Ko of Baobei, Chyna-Lily Tjauw Rawlinson of Chills (who will also present accessories at the show) and more established brands like Twenty-seven Names. Caitlin pins the popularity of the accessory on the optimistic feeling it provides the wearer.
“They’re fun and sexy and cute and quite feminine.”
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Advertise with NZME.She says this keen attention to “divine femininity” will be extended at her debut runway show. However, she’s also excited to showcase the next step for Caitlin Snell at “The Maiden”.
“I’ve played with draping, there are elements like the bows but in a new direction. I’m trying to make it less playful and more sexy and wearable for a large range of people.”
After her move, taking place four days after the show, she’ll be applying lessons to change her business model and welcome those loyal bow wearers to view singular pieces that can’t be replicated.
“I do think I want to focus on one-off pieces rather than pumping out made-to-order.”
Caitlin Snell’s debut runway show “The Maiden” will begin at 11am, Sunday, November 10, at Studio One Toi Tū. Attendance is free, standing.
Madeleine Crutchley is a multimedia journalist for Viva and premium lifestyle and entertainment at The New Zealand Herald. She covers stories relating to fashion, culture and food and drink, from her hometown of Auckland. Recently, she’s written about fashion design in the climate emergency, emerging jewellery designers and future forecasting at fashion schools.
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