When founders of Elle & Riley, Yolande Ellis and Elle Pugh set out to mark ten years of their beloved cashmere label, they asked themselves a simple question: what word would you choose? For Ellis and Pugh, the answer was immediate. Devotion. “Devotion has shaped every part of it,” they tell us. “It is found in choosing to work with a single fibre. In caring deeply about craftsmanship, quality, and the way a garment becomes part of someone’s life.”
That spirit of devotion inspired The Language of Cashmere — a project for New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) in which Elle & Riley invited eleven people they deeply admire, from across fashion, design, art, food, and culture, to each interpret a single word through the lens of cashmere.
Every contributor delivered a different word. Their interpretation of that word, entirely their own.
The result is something unique — not just a campaign or a lookbook, but a conversation. A language built from different perspectives, united by a shared appreciation for an extraordinary natural fibre.
As Elle & Riley step onto the NZFW stage to celebrate a decade of doing things beautifully and deliberately, The Language of Cashmere feels like the perfect prologue.
Dan Ahwa | Stylist & Creative director word: Form
“For me, form in my work is the most essential part that remains when everything else is stripped to its purest form, it’s the foundation and blueprint upon which you can build your creativity. Like the texture of cashmere, it holds a shape and a value that aligns with quality. The feeling, the texture, the integrity.”
Jaime Ridge | Fashion creative word: Ease
“Ease is the luxury of not having to try. It’s the feeling of slipping into something that feels like a second skin — soft, comforting, and quietly refined.”
Sarah Jayne Kavali | Artist word: Drape
“Drape is an act of surrender. It is play, an invitation for form to find itself.”
Luke Foley-Martin | Photographer & artist word: Light
“Light weaves and binds itself to life like the promise of a new day. Much like the individuality and fine woven structure of cashmere, exposing our vulnerability provides the very fabric for understanding ourselves.”
Zeenat Wilkinson | Editor & fashion creative word: Return
“Return is what earns its place in your life. The pieces you reach for again and again aren’t just beautiful — they become part of your rhythm, carrying memories and comfort wherever you are.”
Marina Didovich | Stylist word: Instinct
“Instinct is something we all need to trust in. It’s our innate inner self guiding us in the right direction and in my opinion is the key to success.”
Ariana Tapsell | Fashion creative word: Belonging
“Belonging isn’t always a place, sometimes it’s found in the pieces you return to that make you feel at home wherever you are. For me, cashmere has always been something I come back to season after season.”
Jessica Clarke Model & founder word: Stillness
“Stillness is leaving: leaving the city’s hum, leaving the click of the office, leaving a voice I can’t hold onto, leaving the ice clinking in party glasses, leaving the baby crying on the airplane. I am leaving, breathing in a car, windows closed, watching the world go by, arriving at my burrow, my corner of the world, where the walls know my shape and nothing asks anything of me.”
Josh Emett | Chef & restaurateur word: Purity
“The best ingredients require the lightest touch. I think the same is true of cashmere. The greatest luxury is often found in simplicity, and in treating something exceptional with care.”
Natasha Oakley | Founder word: Warmth
“Warmth isn’t just about softness — it’s about how something makes you feel. To me, warmth is the feeling of being completely at ease. Whether it’s a home you love coming back to or a piece of cashmere you reach for time and time again, the things we value most are the ones that bring comfort, calm, and a sense of belonging.”
