 
 
Top row:
Karen Walker's Etiquette collection saw pearls—symbols of traditional
etiquette—being given a new twist. Centre right and left: The
line between masculine and feminine becomes blurred at Karen Walker:
a masculine blazer and pant, oversized tie and stilettos above; while
tails were undermined at left. Centre left and above: Mixing
fabrics was another theme: luxury and plainness were mixed on the fashion
runway: T-shirt status was raised and sumptuous cloths and cuts were
"casualized".
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 AREN
WALKER’S rise has been captured in the pages of Lucire since we
started in 1997. She represents the new breed of New Zealand designer:
inspired by her surroundings, translating these to an international feel
with its origins firmly in the South Pacific, and finding favour with
a global audience.
The New Zealand connection sometimes helps, but not
always, she told Lucire. ‘It helps in that it captures people’s
imagination and attention because there has never been a designer from
New Zealand before. But the fact that New Zealand has no design reputation
or personality in some ways hinders people’s connection between New Zealand
and great design.’ However, any prejudice that might have existed before
disappeared after her Sydney show on May 9.
Etiquette, Walker's new spring 2001 line shown at Mercedes
Australian Fashion Week, is her most elegant yet—but with a twist. This
is a departure from the sporty theme at London
Fashion Week in September 1999; instead the bases are ‘Waughesque
characters—all upper-class jolly good show’ and Walker’s criticism of
them. As stated in her press release, ‘Karen Walker takes a look at the
uniform of well-mannered society and says, “No, thank you very much.”’
It had to take a designer of Walker’s genius and independence
to break down the dress code of the 20th century. ‘It’s a Karen Walker
version of all the rules of conventional dress—with all those “blue and
green should not be seen” kind of rules broken down,’ she said.
True to this, her collection was more about fun and
personal style, not restrictions—a theme that was in tune with international
press and buyers. Pearls, ‘whether worn with silk or T-shirting or screen-printed
onto anything with a neckline,’ were a feature in this questioning of
stuffy social rules, as were tails as jackets and shirts. An oversized
tie was another example of Walker pushing the societal envelope; skirts
were split more but never to shock, just to pleasantly surprise in this
very cohesive, beautiful and meaningful collection. Men’s suits blurred
feminine and masculine, while our conventions surrounding luxury and frugality
of fabrics were also thrust aside. Thus, T-shirting status was raised
in this collection while ‘traditionally sumptuous cloths and cuts’
were, in the word of the press release, ‘casualized’.
After the spring 2000 collection, where the music from
the Karen Walker show was criticized by the print media, personal CD
players were supplied and guests could listen to the music of their choice
to accompany the collection.
It was no surprise when this collection met with as
much acclaim as Walker’s earlier offerings. There was agreement at this
magazine that she had surpassed herself once again. It’s enjoyable on
many levels: not just æsthetically, but the critique imposed on
the oh-so-perfect society provoked thought.
The world market seems to agree. Having been a firm
fixture at many northern hemisphere stores (see
Lucire Shopping Guide Directory), Walker plans to expand. ‘Our
strategy from this point is to increase the presence in these key stores,
get a presence in more department stores [and] increase the number of
small boutiques in smaller cities,’ she said. ‘We’re finding that our
growth is continuous and that our product is well received in all these
cities,’ which include New York, Tokyo, Paris and London. After
Fashion Week, Walker picked up new stockists including Bergdorf Goodman,
Harvey Nichols and Hong Kong’s Lane Crawford. From 2001, Walker intends
showing at New York Fashion Week: Lucire will be there.
Walker offered a profound statement when we asked what
drives her and her designs. ‘Being a fashion designer is all about creating
and living in the future,’ she said. ‘Obviously, this refers to coming
up with new designs but also means working in new mediums and encouraging
new talent—this is all part of the same job and all very important things
to work at constantly.
‘I just focus on the work I want to achieve and let
all that other stuff pass me by.’
In other words: we are all in it together. Focus on
doing what you do best and everything else falls into place. Karen Walker
lives her philosophy: it shines through in her life and her work.
J A C K Y A N
Jack Yan is publisher of Lucire.
Lucire
Shopping Guide: Karen Walker stockists
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