Dunedin at its heart

A retrospective exhibition of NOM*d, one of New Zealand’s top fashion brands, shows that it has been just as much about the people who have collaborated with it as it is the brand itself, creative director Margarita Roberston believes. She talks to Rebecca Fox about nearly four decades of memories and achievements.

Dunedin is home. It is as simple as that for Margarita (Margi) Robertson, who with husband Chris Robertson, started NOM*d — a fashion brand that has become so synonymous with our southern city its gothic "Dunedin" print became the basis for the city’s marketing.

"I don’t think we would have been the same brand that we are if we weren’t based here."

Many have questioned why the successful international fashion brand has stayed in Dunedin but being based in a small city has its advantages including having a dedicated and loyal customer base even during tough times, Robertson says.

"You know, they're not a boring clientele. I'm always challenging them with new and different clothes. And they enjoy it. They want to be as unique and individual, I think, which is what I want to be and what I think NOM*d is."

It is certainly what Nom*d came from. Robertson was seeking different and unique fashion she could not find in Dunedin in the 1970s so she started her own retail store in 1975.

Her well-known George St retail store, Plume, was born four years later and then when the Caroline Sills knitwear brand it carried expanded its stockists, Robertson decided to create her own line of exclusive knitwear and NOM*d was born in 1986.

"I mean we probably started off with a pretty naive presentation of what NOM*d was and is."

It was not until NOM*d was selected as part of the New Zealand Four (WORLD, Karen Walker and Zambezi) in 1999 to appear at London Fashion Week that they included "wovens" in their range. Prior to that, they showed their knitwear alongside the Zambezi clothing of her sister, Liz Findlay.

"So it sort of pushed us into creating a full look of knitwear and woven garments. And really the rest is history after that."

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

"I think in lots of ways NOM*d has those serendipitous moments."

That trip was pivotal for the brand as Robertson was able to make contacts that went on to influence NOM*d for decades to come.

"The people that we met after that have really become really intrinsic to the brand. There's so many collaborators now that we probably would never have had a relationship with had that whole thing not been triggered by trade and industry."

Many of those collaborators are recognised in the retrospective exhibition "This is NOM*d" which opens at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery this weekend.

One person to whom she was introduced in those heady London days was young assistant stylist Alastair McKimm who came to New Zealand to style NOM*d for three fashion week shows. Then when NOM*d began doing moving footage to showcase their summer collections (only winter collections were shown at fashion week), McKimm also styled two of those.

These days, McKimm is Vogue France’s fashion and image director at large who has worked on campaigns for the likes of Gucci, Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs and Victoria Beckham.

"I just saw him when I was in Paris last week. So we're still really, really good friends and respect each other, although he lives in a different world."

But other equally important collaborators were met in Dunedin, often coming out of 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 NOM*d included producing shows for NZ Fashion Week and short films.

"Richard's been there with us whenever we've asked for anything and we absolutely trust his creativity. And it's the same with Alistair McKimm. Like when we sent looks to him after London, he was living in New York, we could just send him the clothes and you just trust what they do because you're like-minded people."

Another important collaborator has been award-winning film-maker and costume designer Kirsty Cameron, who has done the wardrobe for movies such as The Power of the Dog and Whale Rider.

Some of New Zealand’s top photographers have worked on NOM*d campaigns including Adrienne Martyn who did some of NOM*d’s early work, Peter Bannan, David Shields and Lula Cucchiara. The exhibition also features an image from a collection photographed by her niece, Marisa Findlay.

"I think it's quite good to actually move and to use new photographers. Usually we'll work with a photographer for maybe two or three years and then look at somebody else that's new."

NOM*d is a staunch supporter of the local fashion industry and many graduates have been welcomed into the NOM*d workroom. They have gained experience and knowledge before moving out on their own to create their own labels.

"We also obviously are able to work with fresh young minds and I think that's always really important as far as NOM*d goes that we're working with people of the current generation rather than relying on things that I liked back then in 1986. It keeps the brand evolving," Robertson, who these days is the brand’s creative director, says.

While known for pushing the boundaries one of the criteria the design team always had to meet was the garments above anything else had to be wearable.

"Even though we can be a bit extreme, we also are very aware of longevity. And I think that's also represented in a lot of the garments that we have and what you see here at the gallery."

The exhibition will feature designs from NOM*d’s archives that people might recognise from 20 or 30 years ago but styled with more contemporary pieces by longtime collaborators Karen Inderbitzen-Waller and Delphine Avril Planqueel.

"My brief to them was that they mixed the garments. I didn't want to have the exhibition chronologically represented."

Also referenced in the exhibition are NOM*d’s "iconic" T-shirts which are stencilled by graphic designer son Sam. The gothic "Dunedin" print that the label became so known for was first used stencilled across jackets for the first iD fashion show in 2001 before being printed on their T-shirts.

It was picked up by the Dunedin City Council after NOM*d agreed the council could use the concept for its marketing.

"We did intrinsically link ourselves to Dunedin back in 2001! And it is the city NOM*d lives in now and in the future."

The designs resonated worldwide, their pieces being stocked internationally and the label showing in New York, at a trade fair in Paris and in national and international magazine editorials.

"In lots of ways we have taken risks as well by actually travelling internationally. But it helps influence what we do, being able to see how it actually works in the world."

But in more recent years the Robertsons have decided to concentrate on the New Zealand and Australian markets with their northern hemisphere presence through their online store.

"I mean it's a great ego trip because you perhaps have got 10 stores worldwide that we've been supplying and you can feel really good about that but the cost of actually selling to those 10 stores outweighs any return that you might get financially from it."

The impact of the internet is one of the biggest changes the brand faced to date. Back in the 1980s and 1990s print media or short television clips were the only way to publicise their image to the general public.

"I can even remember in those days when we were working on the plans for London Fashion Week one of the guys that was doing the press in Auckland actually told me off because we were faxing backwards and forwards emails. And he sort of said ‘could you please get a computer because I'm sick of walking over to the fax machine’."

Prior to the internet NOM*d could market collections already in stores in New Zealand in the northern hemisphere but that had to change in the digital environment.

Technological changes have also impacted garment production with much of New Zealand’s clothing manufacturing moving off-shore. Robertson’s first knitwear lines were made in Dunedin at Tamahine Knitwear which closed in 2008 and she has only once wavered from her dedication to keep her production to New Zealand.

"It wasn't a very happy relationship. It was a little bit difficult. So we only did that once."

These days the clothing is made in the North Island through a few different manufacturers. Quality is her No 1 requirement and they go to lengths to make sure every piece is perfect. Quality has always been a cornerstone of the brand, drummed into Robertson by her seamstress mother.

"She used to be really, really pedantic about our quality and, you know we did a lot of unpicking."

As to whether Robertson is thinking of retirement, she says she has no desire to be doing anything else. "So I don’t really want it to change just yet."