Tell me a little about your brand:

 Reparation Studio offers a modern and creative approach to garment alterations, and repairs on Karangahape Road, Tāmaki Makaurau.

Anchored by a desire for less, Reparation studio intends to keep clothing on the body, in the wardrobe and out of landfills.

Inspired by the relationship between garment, wearer, and maker, Reparation studio celebrates the sentimental, the well-loved and the imperfect in an industry consumed by newness.

How did you get started and where is your brand at?

I graduated from Whitecliffe with a BFA, majoring in fashion in 2018. Since graduating, I have worked across diverse roles in the local fashion industry, extending my skills in garment sampling, construction and pattern making. After a chaotic couple of years working through lockdowns and Covid restrictions, I had the chance to take pause and reconsider my role in the industry. This resulted in the establishment of Reparation Studio in 2021.

What is your creative/making process?

My creative process and approach to repairs is individualised to the garment and damage at hand. I always strive to create a repair which is sympathetic to the needs and original character of a garment, while adding value and embellishment through artisanal repair techniques. 

I prefer to work with slow, hand-crafted techniques. Hand sewn repairs make up most of my mending work, and I love the ability this gives me as a maker to slow down, and feel really engaged with each garment. It is quite an intimate process with so much time is invested in carefully hand stitching a garment back to life.

What values are intrinsic to your brand?

During my experience working in the fashion industry, I felt ethically torn between my desire to create beautiful garments, and the need for fewer products in a world oversaturated with clothing. This is what shifted my focus to repairing, and altering garments, creating a balance between my goal of reducing consumption, while staying creatively active. 

Although ‘sustainability’ has become an ubiquitous term in the fashion industry recently, I do believe that sustainability through garment longevity is a key value that I stand by as a maker. 

I think it is fair to say that my business embodies my personal values. I strive to create an inclusive and safe space where people of all sizes, shapes, genders, orientations and ethnicities are welcomed and treated equally.

Can you tell us a little about the work you are showing?

‘Mother Darling’ is a collection of visibly mended garments, aesthetically and conceptually inspired by the 1975 cult documentary Grey Gardens. Each garment has been nurtured back to life through hand darning, stitching and patching. The collection has been informed by the polarities of decay and extravagance, embodied by the ruinous squalor of Grey Gardens and the intrinsically camp and flamboyant sensibilities of the Bouvier Beales.