"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.........