Backstage at the NVV.WORLD
These are the full behind-the-scenes interviews from which the Backstage at the NVV.WORLD Fashion Show article in Rat World Issue Four takes excerpts from, featuring the designers and models as they were preparing themselves and the event backstage.
[NB: We have been informed of a few spelling/formatting errors in the printed piece, and would like to formally apologise to Lucas, Cassia, and all the following designers & models who trusted us with their words/works.]
Interviews by Lucas van Schaardenburg (@rukus.offprints), edited for clarity by Jennifer Cheuk.
Photography by Cassia Walton (@cassiawalton)
Featured Designers:
Jessica J, Reparation Studio
Natasha Ovely, Starving Artists Fund
Nicole van Vurren, NVV.WORLD
Featured Models:
Eddie, @eddiehenryy
Finn, @honey.aotearoa
Adam, @adm.bnr
Leva, @levalol
Designers:
My name is Jessica J and I run Reparation Studio, which is a repair and alterations business. For the show, I put together a collection of quite visibly repaired looks. For these pieces, I have been really trying to push how visible a repair can be on the runway.
My process with this collection is a bit different than if you're designing a garment from scratch. The first step was sourcing garments that needed repairs. I collected a whole lot of damaged garments from a range of places: A few pieces of knitwear came from TradeMe, such as some poly knits that have actually been darned quite intricately. James Dobson from Jimmy D also donated a lot of ripped samples and faulty pieces. Then it’s just about analyzing the damage, working out what could work and what could look visually interesting. But I still want to be sympathetic to the garment while repairing holes and tears. The design process for this collection was very much informed by the damage on the garment itself. I didn't go into it with too many preconceived ideas. A lot of the concepts and ideas behind the work came out during the process. For example, one of the jumpers that I did was like 65 hours of darning. Just me sitting there, hand darning this jumper. A lot comes out in the process.
I studied fashion at Whitecliffe and graduated with a BFA in fashion design. And then after that, I worked for a few local designers predominantly in pattern making. A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to work for myself and start my own business. I guess I got a bit jaded with making new stuff all the time. I was like, “I just want to work with clothing that already exists, somehow”. Repairs just became a real passionate and interesting area, especially in embracing the longevity of the garment.
As a collective, we're all very interested in sustainability as part of our practices, particularly in terms of reusing textiles, such as scraps and trash, to make repairs and alterations. It's about really looking at how we can take textiles and garments, and use them for longer: How we can stop them from going to landfill. That’s what ties all our work together. When you're looking at sustainability and waste in the fashion industry, there's no one answer to it. So, we need these multifaceted practices and ideas.
***
Natasha Ovely, Starving Artists Fund
I'm the designer of Starving Artist Fund and I was asked to be a part of the show. I'll jump at any opportunity to actually show garments in real life and to be more free creatively. I’ve been doing [designing] full time for a while, but that means you have to make compromises because this is literally paying your rent now. You have to do more commercial work sometimes. So, it was really fun being able to feel uncomfortable and have some creative freedom.
I started the Starving Artist Fund in 2018 while I was in Germany. When I moved into my apartment in Berlin, I had a coin jar with a little masking tape label on it saying: ‘Starving Artist Fund’. I knew in the back of my mind that one day, if I started something of my own, that it would have that name. I moved back to New Zealand to do exactly that - start something of my own.
My background is actually in sculptural practice, so I never studied fashion. After I graduated from Elam doing sculpture, I did photojournalism for a while, then I worked in publishing, and then aviation and then sort of had this nagging want to try my hand at fashion. So, I just started doing it in my own time. I learnt by letting the fabric tell me what it wants to do and what it doesn’t like. I don’t push the fabric in any direction, I just really play around with it.
For this show, I got a donation from this woman whose mum had just gone into a home. Her mum was really into sewing, so she donated all of these fabrics and beads. It was so special because these were fabrics I would never pick up in a million years - I‘m always going for structure. But these were tablecloths and really soft cottons. I wanted to respect the mystery and intention behind the fabrics so that's how I started on this collection.
Personality wise, I’m a massive overthinker. I'm just so stuck in my head. So, when I'm making clothes, I try to get away from that mindset. I don't start with a pattern, I just hack into fabric, and then start draping it on myself. I try not to let my brain interfere too much. I realized later that it all comes full circle, because I spend so much time thinking about concepts, that when I switch my brain off, it's actually in the back of my mind anyway. That's how it all comes together in the end.
My biggest struggle has definitely been the change to doing this full time. It was alway a big dream of mine - to make my entire income from what I love doing - but I quickly realized it almost corrupts it in a way. I would rather have a part time job at a bar and then just stay true to exactly what I want to make, rather than have to compromise it all of the time.
If I were to give advice, it would be to manage your finances. That's really important. Keep your part time job. Don't be fooled by Instagram and how it looks like some people are selling a lot. You don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Don't measure your success rate based on other people, because there's a lot of factors that go into it. And a big one is money. Look at the most successful brands in New Zealand - It's not really about creativity, it’s about a business. It just depends on your intention going into it. There's no right or wrong way, like, fuck it, if you wanna secure the bag, secure the bag, but if you want to be creatively motivated, you just have to accept that there will be financial instability in your life. Some people are not cut out for that kind of life and that’s fine. Just knowing that before you go into it.
Actually, do you know what? I am also such a believer in cold emailing. When I came back to New Zealand, I hadn't been back for like, seven years. I knew no one. Absolutely no one. So, I literally found a couple of fashion brands on Instagram, hit them up and asked if they would meet up for coffee. That is the only way I got to sit down with these people who supported me from then to now. I really believe that you just need to reach out and shoot your shot. You're gonna get a lot of rejections, but who fucking cares?
***
Nicole van Vuuren, NVV.WORLD
My name is Nicole van Vuuren, I'm a fashion designer and I run a studio showroom with the aim of promoting sustainable designers through collaboration and conversation. I believe there's a strength in working together.
The studio came about through my own design practice. Ever since fashion school, I’ve been interested in breaking down the hierarchy and the structure of traditional fashion. Working in the industry just made me mad. I started out climbing the ladder at Eckhaus Latta in New York, then I came back to New Zealand and worked for Kate Sylvestor. There were so many things I wanted to change. I wanted to create a platform where designers could educate people about critical fashion practice. Big designers just have too much press, the quality of their clothes aren’t good, and the people working for them are paid next to nothing. There’s so much fabric that goes to waste too. I actually never really thought of myself as sustainable until I was working in the industry. Each day I would look at these offcuts - and some of them were really beautiful - but we weren’t allowed to take them home.
For this collection, the source of my fabrics are from industry offcuts - literally the leftovers from collections that designers have created. I sort the fabrics, wash them, press them and during that process I start to think what might be a garment. Figuring out the textiles and colors that go together in my mind. The process is very making-driven. I make the bigger pieces and then as I go there are smaller and smaller scraps. I tried to create a narrative that you could see in the collection - There’s a skirt that was just made from scraps and threads collected from around the studio, from the bigger offcuts down to the smaller scraps. I've just been spending a lot of time working on techniques that are reproducible, but also elevated. And you can utilize those small things that people don't actually use.
I had an obsession with, like, scraps. I really started because my dad worked in a factory - That was my first experience with offcuts. My first year of fashion design, I collected all these leather scraps from [my dad]. Also, it was about seeing the beauty linked to age and wear in these fabrics. My current collection is working from the scrap and feeding references of the garment into them. It’s all super conceptual. But a big part of the design process is the wearer as well. You want to have a balance between that elevated sense of style, sustainable practice, and representation for all bodies as well.
***
Models:
So what's your name? And why are you here today?
My name is Eddie Henry. I'm here today because I want to model. Just because I'm a creative individual, I love doing creative stuff. And I know Nicole as well. Yeah. So I heard that she's having her runway and I put my hand down. I was like, I'll help you do it and that's it.
Have you done modeling stuff in the past? Like what sort of got you interested in it?
Basically just like getting started. Like my first gig was with Stolen Girlfriends, maybe two or three weeks ago.
Yeah. How was that? Was it intimidating? Was it scary?
It was. I felt a lot of emotions. Nervous but also very excited. So, I tried to channel my excitement rather than trying to feel nervous. But it was a very cool experience. Very cool brand to work for as well.
So who are you modeling today? It looks amazing. By the way, it's so cool. I'm obsessed.
Today I’m modeling for Jess and her studio Reparation. She does a lot of upcycling. Today, you can see the moss that’s integrated here. It’s about repair through upcycling.
So what's going on now?
We're just waiting for everyone to get hair and makeup. I was the first one. So yeah, we had a rehearsal in the morning.
So cool. And do you have anything else you want to say?
Watch out for me. Remember my name. Cus you'll be seeing it more and more for SURE!
***
Well, what are both your names and why are you here today?
Finn: I'm Finn and I'm modeling for Nicole.
What got you into modeling?
Finn: Nicole just posted on Instagram that she was looking for people to be a part of her runway and I was like, “hey, I'll do that!”
What's the look, what's the styling, do you know?
Finn: So I'm wearing a bomber style jacket. With some shorts. Some boots. Yeah.
Adam: It's like patchwork! It's so sick. Cus it’s all about reworking old fabric and clothes and stuff. Like mint green patchwork with black patches. Because I think all of the green was added by Nicole from different fabrics and in different garments through reworking.
That's so cool!
Adam: It's all about not needing to throw away your clothes and buy new ones. Mend your own style, Keep what you have, and work within what you already have.
Yeah. Are you excited for the runway? It's a pretty interesting setup right!
Adam: I know! In a cafe!
***
What’s your name and why are you here today?
My name is Leva. And I'm wearing some of Nicole's clothes.
That's so sick. So what got you into modeling?
Um, I don’t…I'm not a model.
So, you're not? Well, you know, because you said you're wearing clothes today?
I..Okay. I am. I guess in that sense. Yeah. Yes.
So, what are you?
I would call myself a potter. For Ceramics.
What are you related to this event?
No relation. Really. I like clothes. I like Nicole and she made me a pretty dress. And I wanna be the representation that I need. I see, like, one Persian model every lifetime. I've seen maybe two all up, you know? There’s this Eurocentric beauty standard but, what about girls like me, you know? What about the girls who have heaps of hair? Or you know, like when you're a kid you're always bossed into being Princess Jasmine?
Thank you again to everyone involved! 🐀🌏