The sky is grey and drizzly the day I meet with designer Nicole Hadfield of Oosterom. It’s mere days after the creative’s debut in the Viva Next Gen show at New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria, and among her many post-show meetings and showroom visits, she’s kindly invited me to visit her home studio in Te Atatū Peninsula, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland.
When I arrive, I’m taken immediately for a tour of the designer’s workspace – a series of rooms on the bottom floor of her home, which Hadfield uses as her studio and showroom. “This is it,” she says, leading me through to the garage, which, from the array of tools and textiles on display, I ascertain is her primary making room. “It’s actually pretty tidy at the moment,” laughs the designer, though she quickly suggests we head to a nearby café to conduct our interview. Before we leave, Hadfield takes me through the designs she showcased on the runway only five days prior. Running my fingers over the various fabrics and textures, I’m taken by how luxurious and well-crafted everything feels.
It was early last year that I was first introduced to Oosterom – one of its signature organza blouses grabbed my attention when it popped up on my Instagram feed. As a lover of texture and all things silk, I was intrigued. Hadfield officially launched the brand only a couple of years ago in late 2021, and since its inception, it has garnered a reputation for its effortlessly cool tailoring and tactile fabrications. “Having my own brand has always been the plan,” Hadfield explains as we take our seats in the café. “I was always making and creating when I was working for other people.”
The designer got her first break into the industry during high school, when she won the 2009 Newmarket Young Fashion Designer Award, which saw her take a trip to work behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week with Karen Walker. “I was kind of young and definitely inexperienced, [but] it was pretty awesome,” she says. After acquiring a degree in fashion design at Whitecliffe, she then gained valuable experience working in a number of different roles for several highly regarded local labels, including Taylor, Ingrid Starnes and menswear brand French83.
Although she’s always wanted to build something of her own, it wasn’t until Covid hit in 2020 that Hadfield (like many designers during the lockdown period) directed her newfound free time towards making pieces and posting them for sale on her personal Instagram. “I started off designing one shirt called the ‘Evelyn’ shirt which did quite well,” she says. “The sleeve, which is now called the ‘Penelope’ sleeve, has trickled through every collection since, and stemmed from [the design of] my wedding dress.” With the help of her husband – who specialises in website design – she soon launched a proper platform to sell face masks alongside the popular ‘Evelyn’ style.
When it came time to name her brand, Hadfield settled on a moniker that would pay homage to her talented late grandmother, Pietje van Oosterom, who taught the designer much of her knowledge about sewing. “Oma was a machinist. She worked for Bendon for a bit,” Hadfield explains. “She was definitely thrifty and would go to garage sales and collect things that we would then use to make [clothes]. So I guess that’s kind of how I learned how to sew.” Inspired not only by her grandmother’s craftsmanship, but her conscious approach to life and making, Hadfield endeavoured to create a brand that delivered well-made, well-tailored, made-to-order garments that have minimal impact on the environment. “I wanted to remember her legacy,” says the designer, “not only her ability to make things but her caring nature and [the fact that] she put other people first.” This sentiment is echoed throughout all of the brand’s designs, with Hadfield relying heavily on deadstock materials and offcuts for the majority of her construction.
“The sleeve, which is now called the ‘Penelope’ Sleeve, has trickled through every collection since, and stemmed from [the design of] my wedding dress.”
At this point, our conversation turns back to the most top-of-mind subject: New Zealand Fashion Week. Oosterom’s involvement came after Hadfield entered a competition to win a spot as one of six
emerging designers in the Viva Next Gen show. She was notified that she’d won and was given four months to pull everything together. “Time goes very quickly when you have a two-year-old… it was quite a big decision financially to put a collection together as a sole designer,” she says. “I’ve had a lot of [industry] experience, but you can’t really show that just through social media and online… so I guess it was a chance to prove that I can do it – I can create a full collection.” And she did.
After several months of hard work, Hadfield’s vision came to fruition on the runway, with a focus on elevated tailoring, varied textures and sophisticated silhouettes. “The majority of the reception was really positive,” she explains. “With Oosterom, the idea is that each collection adds onto a previous collection. I wanted to showcase wearable things that weren’t over the top.” With a growing list of stockists and orders flocking in by the day, it’s safe to say that Hadfield’s latest collection was a success.
At its core, Oosterom is a values-led brand that will always prioritise quality over quantity. Though it’s one of Hadfield’s goals to expand her business, keeping things sustainable and maintaining relationships with her existing customers will always be important. “I still want to keep numbers small and have the made-to-order aspect for it to be sustainable for myself and so that I don’t lose my mind,” she says. “I would prefer to have a smaller clientele who are super dedicated. My customers are the core of my brand.” She also hopes she’ll be able to find more of a work-life balance. “Having time for a holiday would be nice! Even if it’s just going away for a weekend… family is number one.”
This article originally featured in Fashion Quarterly‘s Summer 2024 issue.
Words: Amberley Colby.
Images: Tenille Rudsdale and supplied.
