Olivia O'Driscoll By Derek Henderson

Image - Pilot Magazine/Derek Henderson

Pilot is an incredibly good looking magazine.

Produced in New Zealand by Andy Pickering (once editor of Remix Magazine), with a focus upon exceptional design and layout, it seems logical that Pilot would also focus the same exceptional aesthetic standards upon their homegrown fashion editorials. In the past they have done so brilliantly, but it seems their recent issue has left a little to be desired.

Issue #6 of Pilot contains only one New Zealand produced fashion editorial, styled by industry novice Emma Gleason, and shot by Derek Henderson.

While drafting up and coming contributors usually displays an encouragement of fledgeling talent, in this instance it seems to display a lack of imagination from editor Andy Pickering. For a magazine which usually features several locally crafted fashion editorials, produced by some of the countries best names, to suddenly have just one, is an oversight.

I could be wrong, but I'd pick that Gleason was chosen because of her close ties/tweets with Murray Bevan of Showroom 22, her blogosphere fame, and self-promoted dabblings as an assistant to the respected Dan Ahwa. Rather than her own proven styling ability.

The shoot itself does indeed display a certain degree of polish expected from such a preeminent title, but this is undoubtedly due to the photographer and model, rather than the stylist. The styling is lackluster, and is an expected exercise in the pseudo-androgynous style Gleason herself is known for. Ill fitting menswear garments appear out of place alongside their more feminine counterparts. Accessories seem forced, and chosen only for their inherent brilliance, rather than a cohesiveness with the rest of the shoot. Fit and style are awkwardly transient throughout.

Apparently giving Gleason complete stylistic freedom, this shoot could have been her opportunity to shine in a discipline she is, thus far, not know for. Instead it was a largely directionless mash-up - Twiggy meets Mad Men meets Pretty Woman. It displayed none of the heightened creativity expected of a fashion editorial.

The addition of other content, from New Zealand's more experienced fashion industry personnel, would have added a credibility that this issue of Pilot lacks.

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Side Note.

The Pilot cover image of David Dallas, also styled by Gleason, is breathtaking. It is the best of all the summer covers from New Zealand's lifestyle, culture and fashion titles. Slick, polished and entirely unexpected.

McInnes Taljaard By Calypso Paoli

Image - Calypso Paoli

I've always held The Fashionisto in such high regard. It is my go-to-guy when it comes to menswear imagery. A one-stop-shop for the best male fashion campaigns, editorials and runway productions in the world. It represents an incredibly comprehensive view of global mens fashion, without sacrificing quality.

Initially an only an aggregator, The Fashionisto launched an in-house magazine in February of 2010. It was a logical next step for an entity with a such a large readership and experienced editing eye. It was to be, or so I thought, a chance for incredible, but otherwise unpublished, photographers and stylists to display their work.

New Zealand's creative talent has recently featured on The Fashionisto, in an exclusive - McInnes Taljaard By Calypso Paoli. An editorial shot by Calypso Paoli and styled by Benjamin Walls, features the top names in New Zealand fashion design. What could have been an incredibly rare chance to display our countries best talent to the world, was anything but.

The stylist of this editorial, Benjamin Walls, is a photographer - by training, but not by trade. It is perhaps due to this lack of educational and professional styling experience that this shoot seems to possess no definitive identity or personality. From Indiana Jones, to an Ivy League attendee, to John Steed - it transcendeds look, style, or reason.

Besides the lack of real character direction, there is no styling polish in this shoot. Shirt collars are too large and not reduced with styling tricks, delicate fabrics are not ironed or streamed, and rich felts still have traces of dust and lint.

I get the feeling that the stylist forced every piece of menswear he collected into the shoot, without editing or thought as to what was being photographed.

There are a couple of great looks in this editorial. But they are lost amongst the sea of mediocrity. With a little bit of garment editing, this could have been a winner.

Wellington Fashion Week

Wellington Fashion Week. It's a concept that baffles me.

Auckland has the New Zealand Fashion Week in early September and the New Zealand Fashion Festival late February. Dunedin has the iD Fashion Week in late March. And now, Wellington has it's own 8 day long fashion event in April.

Positioning itself to fledgling as designers an affordable stepping stone towards the official New Zealand Fashion Week, but also to consumers as an exciting opportunity to experience the world of high fashion is an exercise in juxtaposition.

Designers need to display their wares to boutique owners who will purchase large quantities of their garments to go on sale in six months time, whereas consumers want to see garments they can purchase instores tomorrow. The concept is at war with itself.

Cameron Sneddon, of now defunct personal styling company 'Sass Styling' whose internet presence has all but vanished, is the founder and organiser of Wellington Fashion week. Twenty-two years old, with nothing but retail experience in a boutique shoe store under his belt (or so I'm told), this is a lofty project for the inexperienced Sneddon. Without comprehensive industry experience I seriously doubt Sneddon has a firm grasp on exactly how the industry, or its consumers operate. Not to mention the incredible complications and effort that goes into producing a week long fashion event.

Based on the much referenced press release, Wellington Fashion Week has the support of; Museum Arts Hotel, Armstrong Prestige Audi, Massey University and The Edge. It's a nice looking (though short) sponsor list, and I hope it bears fruits.

I honestly wish nothing but the best for Wellington Fashion Week - any event that increases the profile of New Zealand fashion designers can only be a good thing. But at this stage, I'm not holding my breath.

Barkers

The goal of almost every fashion student is to start their own label. To create incredible clothing that makes the wearer look and feel amazing, while displaying the designers unique point of view. Failing that, they want to work for the cutting edge design houses, they want to contribute to dressing the sartorial elite.

But why?

Fashion affects everyone. By a huge majority, most people buy their clothing from ever present chainstores. Barkers, Dotti, Glassons, Hallensteins, Postie and Wild Pair. Surely it's more affecting to work for one of these low-cost chainstores, and change the way people dress from the grassroots up.

Barkers are doing incredible things at the moment. After booting out almost every single member of their creative and managerial staff in April 2010, Barkers avoided their expected path towards Hallensteins mediocracy. Taking a cue from the success of international mega-brands H&M, Topshop and Zara, Barkers went to work reinvigorating their brand. Emphasising design quality without inflating price, the idea was to create a boutique fashion feel, while still catering to their reliable mainstream consumer.

A prime example of Barkers revamped direction is their new in house magazine, 1972. It nurtures a brand loyalty that every retailer desires to create. It enriches the purchasing experience, and further connects Barkers with their customer. Rather than spending thousands of highly distributed advertising dollars, which will most often reach anything but their target market, the magazine showcases the Barkers product and attitude directly to their customer - those who have, and will, spend money instore.

Well done Barkers. If every retailer took a page from your book, we would be a much better dressed nation.

Zambesi A/W12 NZFW Runway

Image - TheAList.co.nz

HOLY SHIT! The Zambesi A/W12 collection is top of the pops.

I don't consider myself to be a fashion critic by any means - I lack the historical knowledge and technical eye required for the role. But, I believe the Zambesi A/W12 collection shown at New Zealand Fashion Week 2011 to be their best in years. And what excited me just as much the clothes, was their excellent runway presentation.

For A/W12, Zambesi really upped their game.

Never using a dedicated stylist for their runway shows, I always found Zambesi to lack direction on the runway - especially once they decided on their love of Doc Martens. Every season featured the same listless models who displayed no obvious or immediate distinction from the seasons prior.

However, their A/W12 runway display broke from this tradition.

The hair, the make-up, the music - it was perfect. Bursting from the usual black frontstage, what I had expected to be another display of exclusively somber colours was anything but. Flourescent blues and yellows were perfectly placed within an incredibly sporty collection. The skull slick hair with sharp, to the point make-up was a perfect fit for the sporty, minimal aesthetic of the collection. The overarching sporting aesthetic of the runway presentation gave their customarily fitted garments reason and purpose. Gone was the nonchalant attitude that always seemed to contradict collections with such polish.

I suggest picking up a piece from this collection when it hits stores in March/April - it will go down in history as Zambesi's best since the glory years of the New Zealand Four in 1999/2000.