The latest and greatest trends, products and launches.
Urban nature
Fluid fabrics and clean silhouettes come together with strong prints by Swedish illustrator Moa Bartling for H&M Studio SS18, dropping March 1. Creative director Pernilla Wohlfahrt was inspired by Japan’s urban/natural dichotomy and says the juxtaposition of glamorous and unpretentious elements speaks to the vivacity of women.
Throwin’ shades
Karen Walker presents an entirely new collection of frame shapes with Lost in Paradise, the eyewear offering that imagines the wearer shipwrecked on a tropical atoll while accessorised to perfection. Borderless styles such as Mrs Bill ($369, pictured below right) push boundaries of perception, while red glitter acetate rims bring a dose of desert island disco. Elsewhere, Mars’ Holly Marbeck (maker of the earrings beloved by Solange Knowles) is entering the eyewear market with her Pilot frames ($240, above right), available in three sparkly colourways as well as classic black.
A good yarn
Kowtow’s new line of conscious knitwear is made with wool certified by ZQ Merino, which ensures growers commit to the highest grade of environmental care, social responsibility and animal welfare.
Heel the world
Aptly titled Elevate, Empower, Mi Piaci’s AW18 collection brings you a heel that can do both. Carved from wood and electroplated to achieve a modern, chrome finish, the Rae and Raleigh booties symbolise unity and courage, says designer Sarah Street. She describes the collection as a “sartorial arsenal to communicate inner fortitude in a turbulent world”.
Mi Piaci heels both $360
Pearl jam
Three NZ jewellery brands have taken one common theme and given it three distinct interpretations this season. Meadowlark’s Venus incorporates clusters of pearls, grey diamonds, and pink and green sapphires with shapes that evoke the grandeur of Renaissance and Baroque art — including Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. The iconic painting also inspired Love and Object creative director Constance Cummings, whose recent visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence prompted her to begin sketching her Aphrodite collection then and there. The resulting pieces speak to female uniqueness and strength, paying homage, says Constance, to “dynamic pearl-wearing women through the ages, from queens to politicians”. Meanwhile, Karen Walker follows up last season’s limited-edition Girl with a Pearl collection with Eden, a subversive three-piece offering. “The pearl is an emblem of the establishment, yet the essence of them is so potent and sensual,” says the designer. “We’ve played with that eroticism to make them dangerous again.”
Karen Walker (top left); Love And Object (top right); Meadowlark (centre); Meadowlark earrings, $1,329
Pride rocks
Pride festivities wrapped up on February 18, but you can show your support for the LGBTQ community year-round by purchasing a piece from the fifth annual Levi’s Pride collection, stocked exclusively in NZ at World boutiques and online. For 2018, the brand gives the rainbow treatment to some of its signature pieces (including its trucker jacket, $220), with 100% of the proceeds benefitting LGBTQ partner organisations the Harvey Milk Foundation and Stonewall Community Foundation.
Banding together
Stolen Girlfriends Club’s latest collab — with Californian rock legends Grateful Dead — is a creative coup that’s been almost a year in the making. Putting a contemporary twist on some of the band’s most recognisable motifs — skulls, roses, dancing bears — pieces from the limited-edition capsule collection are a must for diehard Deadheads and new converts alike.
