DUNEDIN in your heart | Otago Daily Times Online News

Dunedin is at home. It is as simple as for Margarita (Margi) Robertson, that with her husband Chris Robertson, started Nom*D – a fashion brand that became so synonymous with our southern city of his Gothic impression “Dunedin” has become the basis for city marketing.

“I think we won’t have been the same brand that we are if we were not based here.”

Many questioned why the successful international fashion brand was in Dunedin, but relying on a small town has its advantages, including having a dedicated and loyal customer base, even in difficult times, says Robertson.

“You know, they are not a boring clientele. I’m always challenging them with new and different clothes. And they like it. They want to be so unique and individual, I think, what I want to be and what I think nom*d.”

It is certainly what came. Robertson was looking for different and unique fashion she didn’t find in Dunedin in the 1970s, so she started her own retail store in 1975.

His well -known George St retail store, Plume, was born four years later, and when the mesh brand Caroline Sills who carried his stocks, Robertson decided to create his own exclusive knit line and was born in 1986.

“I mean, we probably started with a very naive presentation of what it was and is.”

It was not until the Nom*d being selected as part of New Zealand Four (World, Karen Walker and Zambeze) in 1999 to appear at London Fashion Week that they included “Wovens” in their reach. Before that, they showed their meshes next to their sister’s clothes, Liz Findlay.

“So that kind of led us to create a complete look of meshes and fabric clothes. And the rest is history after that.”

Looking back, Robertson, who was nominated for New Zealand’s Order of Merit for services to the fashion industry in 2018, agrees to show that the first full collection of Nom*d in an event like London Fashion Week was quite significant.

“I think in many ways names have these accidental moments.”

This trip was fundamental to the brand, as Robertson was able to make contacts that influence names in the coming decades.

“The people we know after they really became really intrinsic to the brand. There are so many collaborators now that we would probably never have a relationship with the whole thing that had not been triggered by commerce and industry.”

Many of these employees are recognized at the Retrospective exhibition “This Is Nom*D”, which opens in Dunedin’s public art gallery this weekend.

One person to whom she was introduced in those inherent days of London was the young stylist Alastair McKimm, who came to New Zealand to styling names for three fashion week parades. So when Nom*D began making mobile images to show off her summer collections (only winter collections were displayed at Fashion Week), McKimm also called two of them.

Nowadays, McKimm is Vogue France’s Fashion and image director in general, who worked in campaigns such as Gucci, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs and Victoria Beckham.

“I just saw him when I was in Paris last week. So we are still very, very good friends and we respect each other, although he lives in a different world.”

But other equally important collaborators were received in Dunedin, usually leaving the University of Otago or Otago Polytechnic, such as Richard Shaw, a video producer who worked with Dunedin bands at the time. His work for name*D included the production of shows for NZ Fashion Week and Short -Films.

“Richard has been there with us whenever we ask for anything and trust absolutely in his creativity. And it’s the same with Alistair McKimm. As when we ship it looks at him after London, he was living in New York, we could send him the clothes and you just trust what they do because you have people with similar ideas.”

Another important collaborator was the award-winning filmmaker and costume designer Kirsty Cameron, who made the wardrobe for films like The power of the dog and Whale Rider.

Some of New Zealand’s main photographers worked in name campaigns, including Adrienne Martyn, who did some of the first works of Nom*D, Peter Bannan, David Shields and Lula Cucchiara. The exhibition also features an image of a collection photographed by her niece, Marisa Findlay.

“I find it great to move and use new photographers. Usually we worked with a photographer for perhaps two or three years and then look at someone else who is new.”

Nom*D is a firm defender of the local fashion industry and many graduates were received in the work room. They gained experience and knowledge before moving on their own to create their own labels.

“Obviously, we are also able to work with new young minds and I think this is always very important with regard to the names we are working with people of the current generation, instead of trusting the things I liked at that time in 1986. It keeps the brand evolving,” says Robertson, who is nowadays the creative director of the brand.

Although known for overcoming the boundaries, one of the criteria that the design team has always had to meet clothes above anything else needed to be wearable.

“Although we may be a little extreme, we are also very aware of longevity. And I think this is also represented in many of the clothes we have and what you see here in the gallery.”

The exhibition will present Nom*D archives designs that people can recognize 20 or 30 years ago, but with more contemporary pieces from long-standing employees Karen Inderbitzen-Waller and Delphine Avril Planqueel.

“My summary for them was that they mixed the clothes. I didn’t want to have the exposure represented chronologically.”

Also mentioned in the exhibition are the “iconic” T -shirts of Nom*D, which are made by graphic designer Son Sam. The Gothic impression of “Dunedin” by which the label became so well known was first used in jackets for the first identification fashion show in 2001, before being printed on his t -shirts.

It was caught by the Dunedin City Council after Nom*D agreed that the Council could use the concept for its marketing.

“We are intrinsically linked to Dunedin in 2001! And it’s the city that lives now and in the future.”

Projects resonated worldwide, their pieces being internationally stored, and the label displayed in New York, a trade fair in Paris and national and international magazine editorials.

“In many ways, we take risks also traveling internationally. But it helps to influence what we do, to be able to see how it really works in the world.”

But in recent years, Robertsons have decided to focus on the markets of New Zealand and Australia, with their presence in the northern hemisphere through their On -Loda store.

“I mean, it’s a great trip to the ego, because you may have 10 stores around the world we are providing and you can feel great about it, but the cost of really selling to these 10 stores overcomes any return you can get financially.”

The impact of the internet is one of the biggest changes the brand has faced so far. In the 80s and 1990s, printed media or short television clips were the only way to spread your image to the general public.

“I can even reminder in thhose days when we were working on the plans for london fashion week one of the guys that doing the press in auckland currently told me off because we have faxing backwards and forwards emails. BECAUSE I’M SICK OF WALKING OVER TO THE FAX MACHINE ‘. “

Before the internet Nom*d, it could already market stores collections in New Zealand in the northern hemisphere, but this had to change in the digital environment.

Technological changes also impacted the production of clothing with much of New Zealand’s clothing manufacturing moving outside the coast. Robertson’s first mesh lines were made in Dunedin in Tamahine Knitwear, which closed in 2008 and only once hesitated from her dedication to maintaining her production in New Zealand.

“It wasn’t a very happy relationship. It was a little difficult. So we just did it once.”

Nowadays, the clothes are made on the North Island through some different manufacturers. Quality is the need for your number 1 and they strive to ensure that each piece is perfect. Quality has always been a cornerstone of the brand, played in Robertson by his mother, mother.

“She used to be very, very pedantic about our quality and, you know we did a lot of unzipping.”

About if Robertson is thinking of retiring, she says she doesn’t want to do anything else. “So, I really don’t want it to change yet.”