This year’s New Zealand Fashion Week kicked off for me with the Miss Crabb show on Tuesday night.
I have proudly worn Kristine’s clothes since the heady days of 2002, when she had Rip Shit and Bust fashion gallery on K’Road. Showing on the infamous strip 14 years later showed just how far the label has come, but that it still honours its roots by being a little bit naughty as well as elegant, and a whole lot rock n’ roll.
The Miss Crabb label proper was established in 2004, coinciding with Kristine opening her flagship store on Ponsonby Road. Back then the block between Picton Street and Hepburn Street wasn’t the buzzing, retail hot spot that it is now, but word spread and soon her collections were being sought out by women across the country keen for a slice of the Cult of Crabb. Although no long sewn upstairs from the store, every piece from her collections is still produced in New Zealand, and supporting high-quality local production is important to the brand. You can literally feel the love and care that has gone into the creation of each garment. Sure it costs more than, say, the chain store nearby, but you will love and cherish it for a whole lot longer.
The Miss Crabb label describes itself as taking “a subversive approach to shape, proportion and beauty so each piece transcends time, age and place.” I love the fact that each piece was made to be interpreted by the wearer, encouraging singularity and freedom. This harmony between design and restraint allows the purity of beautifully sourced fabrics like silk, linen and cotton to speak for itself. The patterns, which Kristine cuts herself, are often basic geometric shapes that delicately transform these natural materials into effortless yet quietly poetic and enduring pieces. In a word: perfection.
One of the things that excited me about seeing Kristine’s recent NZFW outing was the fact that for the first time ever, the collection included Miss Crabb shoes. Created in association with mass-market brand Mi Piaci, they are a whole new direction for the label but one that makes perfect sense.
When we talk over a pot of tea at the Ponsonby home Kristine shares with her three beautiful children, she tells me that when Mi Piaci first emailed her earlier this year offering to enter into a design collaboration of sorts she thought, “Why not?”
After a surprisingly simple design process, the first samples started arriving in May from the offshore factory where they were being manufactured, a time that was both exciting and strange for the designer. I wondered if it was odd having her creations made so far from home after years of being so hands on and literally whipping collections up in the studio above her store? “It was at first,” she says with a smile, “but I could make the smallest changes to the original samples and nothing was any bother. They were finished beautifully, and it was so cool working with a company that has so much experience when it comes to getting it right, and on a bigger scale than I am usually used to.”
The shoe collection hits stores in November, including Kristine’s Ponsonby Road boutique and her stockists. She describes the shoes as “trashy fancy... they are based on dancing shoes and are really girly and in colours like pink, red, grey and ballet bone.” She says they are designed to be party shoes but worn every day, and there are a lot of contrasting textures going on like patent leather with suede for a little extra special something.
Also still relatively new to the Miss Crabb flagship is the beautiful, purpose-built lounge above the store named Heaven, which was established especially for their Special Order service. It’s the place you can make an appointment to visit for that perfect one-off piece - be it an unconventional wedding dress, bridesmaids' dresses or purely because you've always longed for that elusive dress of your dreams. You can use the Special Order service to re-create your favourite Miss Crabb style, past or present, in a unique colour and fabric from the design team’s thoughtfully curated range of special silks, lace and other special fabrics they love. Each piece is personally overseen from conception to creation by one of their consultants and produced individually, ensuring it fulfils your vision. Complete with plush sofas, Champagne Collet and enormous dressing rooms, it is the perfect place to feel truly special, have a play with beautiful things and, in essence, escape real life. How great is that?
“The bespoke part of the business has been growing so much it just seemed a logical thing to do,” smiles Kristine, “and it has become one of my favourite parts of the business. My customers are just such cool people and I love creating really special things for them.” (HELENE RAVLICH)