"...I THOUGHT GUYS NEED SOME SEXY UNDIES!"

MORGAN WILLIAMS RUN'S "NUDEL", A CHRISTCHURCH BASED MEN'S UNDERWEAR COMPANY.

ME: WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO START A MEN'S UNDERWEAR COMPANY?

MORGAN WILLIAMS: I had the idea in about 2000, and it's been on the back of my my mind ever since. I've been drawing in my sketch pad all that time, putting it away for months then bringing it back out and rekindling the dream. My new year's resolution last year was to finish everything I've ever started (which is quite a lot) and Nüdel was on the top of the list. My company is called Stratum Clothing Ltd. and I guess the actual reason I started it was because I thought guys need some sexy undies! Girls have SO much to choose from whereas fellas do not. Then I researched female shoppers - because I believed marketing my gruds to guys would be a mistake - and it turned out females make basically the majority of consumer purchase decisions. Guys don't care so much if they have nice undies, they don't have to be present when they're purchased, girls have more of an idea of what size they wear, at the end of the day it all comes back to the girl - they want their guy looking good.
ME: NUDEL IS QUITE NEW, ISN'T IT?
MORGAN WILLIAMS: I developed them all last year and got them in stores (see website www,nudel.co.nz, for stockists) one week before Christmas. They were really well received, but some people took a little convincing when it came to my marketing approach - selling guys undies in women's stores.
ME: "MEN'S PACKAGING" CHEEKY PUN, WHO CAME UP WITH THAT?
MORGAN WILLIAMS:I came up with Nüdel men's packaging the pun - originally I was going to call them Bambu but then Jockey released a bamboo fiber garment and it all became a little too close for comfort, so to speak. It's all a little tongue in cheek really, the wording, the logo (there are subtle references to the male anatomy) and of course the undies/noodle box - both cool types of packaging.
ME:YOUR BLOG ENTRIES (NUDELMENSPACKAGING.BLOGSPOT)SHOW YOU PRINITING, IRONING AND ALSO MENTIONS THAT YOU DO THE ACCOUNTS...
MORGAN WILLIAMS:Yeah I do the printing and ironing haha, and daily day to day running - chasing up money, sending them everywhere, whoring them out to new shops. They're cut here in Christchurch, then they come back to me for printing then I take them to another place for assembly then back to me again for packaging then they're off to the shops. Printing is fairly time consuming but there's something quite therapeutic about it too, it's good to get really hands on with the product. I manage my band, produce a radio breakfast show as well act and do voicings mostly for radio, so I'm keeping pretty busy!
ME: ANY ARTIST THAT YOU PERSONALLY, WOULD LIKE TO SEE CONTRIBUTE WORK?

MORGAN WILLIAMS: As far as finding the artists go, yeah if I see something I like the look of, I'll hunt them down and see if they're keen. It's not too hard, as there as SO many talented people around, it constantly blows my mind. This year though I'll be producing even smaller runs than 250 with some celeb art on them which will be auctioned off at the big Nüdel launch in Auckland at the end of this year.

PHOTO: KRISTIAN FRIRES

"I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT ELEMENTS OF MY PERSONAL WORK LEAK INTO MY PROFESSIONAL WORK... THEY INEVITABLY DO I THINK."

CONOR CLARK IS A NEW ZEALAND PHOTOGRAPHER, BASED IN AUCKLAND, WHOSE WORK ENCOMPASSES BOTH COMMERCIAL AND ARTISTIC REALMS. WWW.CONORCLARKE .CO.NZ

ME: DID YOU DECIDE PRETTY MUCH AT ART SCHOOL, THAT YOU WANTED TO WORK AS COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER, OR WAS IT A LONGER PROCESS?

CONOR CLARKE:No I didn't. I went to art school to be a painter and learnt photography as a means of documenting my paintings. I quickly found that I could use the photographic medium to realise my ideas much better than I could with paint. I enjoyed the process of collecting images and making 'paintings' or constructions out of these collected photographs, as opposed to painting them from scratch. In terms of commercial photography, this is something I kind of fell into by starting to photograph my flatmates' band, and then their friends bands and so on, etc. that's how I got into live music photography, then events and portraiture (which is my preferred area).

ME: WHICH ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS DO YOU ADMIRE?

CONOR CLARKE: ohhh lots...a mix or artists, photographer and both: but the first ones that come to mind, and are therefore probably my favourites are Patricia Piccinini, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jae Hoon Lee, Fiona Connor, Fiona Amundsen, Loretta Lux, Yvonne Todd.

ME: HOW DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN YOUR COMMERCIAL AND ART PHOTOGRAPHY?

CONOR CLARKE: Commercial photography generates the money I need to live, and to make my personal work. It is generally always commissioned, and almost always shot digitally (whereas all personal work is shot on 6x7 film). The personal stuff is what I'm passionate about. Things I'm interested in, things that I research and collect. Almost always symmetrical, and ordered. Interests are: colonialism, the need for order and therefore disorder, front yards, topiary, formal gardens, roses, the need for maintenance, the culture of collecting, labelling, symmetry, competitiveness and pride, all things that are normalising.... I'd like to think that elements of my personal work leak into my portrait work...they inevitably do I think.

ME: YOUR COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY FOCUSES ON PEOPLE AND PORTRAITS AND IN YOU ART WORK (FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN) THERE IS NO ONE!INTENTIONAL?

CONOR CLARKE:Actually not all that intentional...sometimes there are people in the backgrounds of some of my personal images...if they walk in, etc. I enjoy photographing people a whole lot, but I find in my personal work I prefer to be more subtle in my approach, and find that using images of people say too much. Their clothes, their expression, the style of their hair, their make-up, etc. I guess they say too much about perhaps their upbringing, their class, social status, the time it was shot, etc. I prefer to photograph evidence of people, for example a photograph of someone's front yard says a whole lot to me about who they are as a person, or as a family. It would kind of ruin it for me if I were to actually put the people in the shot.

ME:I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A MUSIC FAN AND YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR "RIP IT UP" MAGAZINE, IS THERE YOUR FAVOURITE AREA OF COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY?

CONOR CLARKE:Like I said earlier...the music thing is something I just fell into. I do enjoy it, and meeting lots of interesting people is pretty great. I guess the problem always comes back to the fact that there's not a lot of money floating around in the music industry so you end up working very cheaply. You do it for the love, and for the learning experience more than anything. My fav. area though is anything portrait. I love shoots that have an idea, theme or narrative involved, otherwise it's just a photo.

'THE FLANEUR IS ABOUT CAPTURING PEOPLE THAT I FIND AESTHETICALLY INTERESTING AND INSPIRING"

LYDIA COWPERTWAITE IS AN AUCKLAND PHOTOGRAPHER AND CREATER OF WWW.THEFLANEUR.ORG/. A STREET FASHION BLOG

... IN CASE YOU ARE WONDERING, fLANEUR IS A FRENCH WORD, WHICH FROM THE VERB FLANER, MEANING "TO STROLL' lYDIA DESCRIBES HERSELF AS "A VOYEURISTIC STROLLER ARMED WITH A CAMERA."
ME: WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATION/BACKGROUND?

lYDIA COWPERTWAIT:I did a degree in Fine Art at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University. I am also close to completing a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Sociology.

ME: OTHER WORK AS A FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER?

LYDIA COWPERTWAIT:I freelance as a photographer and photography assistant. I have worked for a wide range of publications, nationally and internationally.

ME: ARE YOU ALWAYS ARMED WITH A CAMERA FOR THE FLANEUR, OR IS IT ABIT MORE PREMEDIATED?

LYDIA COWPERTWAITE:I aim to always take my camera where ever I go and to photograph people I find aesthetically interesting. My photographs are never premeditated.

ME: IS YOUR WORK ON THE fLANEUR YOUR PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF FASHION?

LYDIA COWPERTWAITE:Ha!Good question. I think it would be too simple for me to say The Flaneur is my interpretation of fashion, as I find fashion a complex subject. The Flaneur is about capturing people that I find aesthetically interesting and inspiring.

ME: WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN TERMS OF STYLE, WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING PEOPLE, FOR THE fLANEUR?

LYDIA COWPERTWAITE:I like photographing people who look quirky or beautiful in some way. A lot of people say that Auckland is not a stylish city but I think our city is full of interesting looking people who celebrate self expression.

ME: WHOSE STYLE DO YOU ADMIRE?

LYDIA COWPERTWAITE: So many people! A recent inspiration the late Isabella Blow.

"EMMAFORD SWIMWEAR IS A BIT KITSCH, A BIT OF SEX APPEAL, A BIT PRACTICAL."
EMMAFORD SWIMWEAR IS COLLOBORATION BETWEEN AUCKLAND BASED COUPLE EMMA STUART AND MARK BURTON.
HERE, EMMA ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS, VIA EMAIL.
ME; HOW LONG HAS YOUR LABEL BEEN IN EXISTENCE?
EMMA STUART; It has been a while now from the idea 7 years ago, and this is our fourth season.
ME; HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR LABEL?
EMMA STUART; We try to appeal to women who love fashion rather than an age or size Within the collection each season is a range of shapes and styles from classic one pieces with cutouts to bikinis and now, resort wear. Emmaford swimwear is a bit of kitsch, a bit of sex appeal, a bit of practical.
ME; HOW DO YOUR INFLUENCES TRANSLATE INTO YOU WORK?
EMMA STUART; I love collecting, our house is packed with bits and pieces. At the moment I collect risqué pin up playing cards from the 50s and 60s, Tikiculture inspired fabric and Crown Lynn animal figures.Mark loves FILMS and HAS A PRETTY INTERESTING COLLECTION.......It's a really broad mix, from Hitchcock, Russ Meyer,Westerns, Film Noir and Anime and I have a little pile of David Lynch films. Each season is a reflection of what our latest obsession is, and normally it is a combination between my loves and Mark's.
ME; THE DIFFICULTIES OF DESIGNING SWIMWEAR?
EMMA STUART;I think it can be difficult to design one range a year, first you are looking at the range for such a long time and both Mark and I are very critical of everything we design. Also trying to keep the brand in the public's eye when the garments are not in store. Saying that if we were to design two collections life would be even more hectic!
ME; GIVEN THAT YOU AND MARK ALSO HAVE FULL TIME JOBS, HOW DO YOU ALSO MANAGE TO PRODUCE A SWIM WEAR LABEL?
EMMA STUART; We have a crazy life style and are always juggling jobs, design and the business while trying to have a social life, but design is our passion..My day job IN FASHON RETAIL IS A FACTOR IN learning how I can have the best PRODUCTS possible FOR OUR CUSTOMERS. Fashion retail gives me a opportunity to see what exactly WORKS and why, so I try to take this knowledge and relate this to our brand.
ME; PLANS FOR THE FUTURE, OF THE LABEL?
EMMA STUART;In the short term Emmaford will feature in two episodes of NZNTM and in November, we will head down for the 3rd year in a row for Andy Blake’s Style CHRISTCHURCH. The most important thing and most exciting thing is the new stockists we have around the country for summer 09/10. In the future we are planning on ENTERING THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET, anda winter collection for 2010.........

"I CONSIDER MYSELF A BRIDGE BETWEEN GENERATIONS."

LOUIE AUSTEN IS A VIENNESE ELECTRO CROONER IN HIS EARLY 60's. Austen had orginally entertainened in nightclubs through out the world, singing in the style of rat pack crooners like Frank Sinatra. Then at the age of 53, he swtiched to electro

ME: What did you do before you were an electro crooner?.
LOUIE AUSTEN: I was in good shape business wise. I was entertainment manager at the Marriott Hotel (Vienna) and had regular voice over and acting work. I wasn't bored... I just wanted new challenges.
ME: How did you become an electro crooner?.
LOUIE AUSTEN: I met these two young guys (music producers) who asked me to sing over their dance music. I thought why not try something different.
....Besides if it doesn't work out I can always go crawling back to my old job. But I didn't go back to my old job. I got such a kick out of working with young people who are on the same wavenlength as me. For the first time in my life I was happy to try new boundaries, trying new ideas.
The first couple of years as an electro crooner were not easy.
LOUIE AUSTEN I started at zero playing clubs I had never heard of. I was such a wierd performer. Consequences (Austen's first C.D.) wasn't for everyone. People thought, "who is this guy?"
The turning point was the huge Sonnar Music Festival in Barcelona.
LOUIE AUSTEN: After, (the Sonnar) everybody wanted me for their clubs. The money didn't improve but the booking did. 150-200 a year.
ME: You worked with Peaches on Grab My Shaft. How did that come about, and what was Peaches like to work with?
LOUIE AUSTEN: I was playing these industrial halls in Berlin. I met the Canadain Mafia -Peaches, Chilli Gonzales and Leslie Feist. Chilli produced Grab My Shaft.
....I'm the same guy off stage and on. But Peaches, off stage is a nice quiet girl.
ME: Judging from the videos I've seen, you really love to perform live.
Louie Austen: Performing live means that people are paying to see me. That means no cheating, no faking, giving them everything that I have. Everything that I can offer.
..Final point....
LOUIE AUSTEN: I consider myself to be a bridge between generations. I would like to encourage old people that it's exciting to become envolved with young people. And for young people that its ok, to get old as long as you realise your ambitions.
Louie Austen is touring Australia this week. His latest release, an ep "My Amy," is a homage to tabloid tragicomedy Amy Winehouse.