Dominque Healy characterises the silhouette for local fashion as being easy and breezy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew Zealand has a relaxed, grounded feel to it, even within the city,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The designer, whose eponymous label was launched in Naarm Melbourne in 2017, has felt this influence since her return to Aotearoa in 2023. Melbourne was Healy\u2019s home for 10 years, so she feels the differences of T\u0101maki Makaurau Auckland keenly. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re surrounded by ocean, greenery … I think that filters subconsciously into my work. There\u2019s a certain calmness in the environment here, and it naturally encourages a wardrobe that is unfussy, easy to wear and adaptable to different moments from day to night.\u201d <\/p>\n
She\u2019s witnessed this relaxed wardrobe from various storefronts \u2013 her flagship was in the shadow of Maungawhau but now she sits snug in a fashion-focused block within Grey Lynn \u2013 as well as her home further towards the coast. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In her personal style, Healy notices she\u2019s mirrored this attitude too: dressing in easier pieces, with soft fabrics and silhouettes. <\/p>\n
The influence is most prominent in her designs. Relaxation has been a long-term signature of Healy but her return to Aotearoa has seen it amplified. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy approach to design has always centred around how clothing feels on the body. I want people to feel good, confident and comfortable in their clothes, not restricted.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her current resort collections, the sensibility is present in an amenable ribbed top with a plunging square neckline and a matching shirt and trouser set, cut in a breezy cotton broidery. The pieces promote and adapt easily to movement (it\u2019s easy to imagine rib knits donned in dance practices). <\/p>\n
Some of Healy\u2019s pivot in design is reflective of customer wants, but it is also born of necessity: access to materials is different in our place in the Pacific. <\/p>\n
\u201cMoving home definitely opened up a new creative chapter. I\u2019ve leaned much more into jersey since being back, something I didn\u2019t explore as much in Melbourne. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat shift began when my access to the textured linens I relied on changed, both because of the move and the timing. Linen had a huge price increase that year, 30-50%, which felt impossible to pass on to customers and also wasn\u2019t viable for me to soak up the cost while continuing to make locally.\u201d <\/p>\n
This new fabrication has led Healy to create new styles for the label, while aiming to maintain a more accessible price point for those interested in buying local. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Recently, the designer returned to old haunts in Melbourne and also travelled beyond the city to Byron and the Sunshine Coast. <\/p>\n
\u201cBeing away and doing some people-watching was really inspiring. Each place had its own personality.\u201d <\/p>\n
The trip sharpened her view of a city\u2019s influence on stylings, and offered a refreshing view for her own work. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite similar to New Zealand in the sense that climate and surroundings shape so much. Big cities like Sydney and Melbourne feel sharper, more layered, more trend-aware. The beachy spots, Byron, Sunshine Coast, are much more relaxed. You see a lot more linen, colour and natural fabrics. People dress with ease, responding to the heat and the slower pace.\u201d <\/p>\n
Healy\u2019s guide to fashion in Melbourne<\/p>\n
Inside The Hotel Windsor. <\/p>\n
I love Gertrude St in Fitzroy\/Collingwood. I always stay nearby as they have great shopping and restaurants, it\u2019s one of those areas where you can wander for hours. It leads onto Smith St, where you\u2019ll find a beautiful store I always visit called Somebuddy Loves You. Not far from there, if you\u2019re in town over a weekend, I recommend heading to Cam\u2019s or Julia for lunch and then popping into the Caves Collect open studio, all within the Abbotsford Convent which is a beautiful old building. Caves Collects craftsmanship is incredible, and it\u2019s the only place you can try their pieces on in person, as they operate online only and don\u2019t wholesale.<\/p>\n
Inside Before March. <\/p>\n
Another forever favourite is Before March Store on High St in Northcote, where Melissa Mikletic curates a thoughtful selection of pieces. She\u2019s so passionate about her space and it really shows.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t make it to the other side of town on this trip as I was only there a few days, but if you want to make a day of it around Albert Park, there\u2019s a gorgeous store called Filly Stable with a great mix of brands. The area itself is lovely, plenty of places for lunch, and the South Melbourne Markets are just down the road and always fun to stroll through, also great for food. Grace Melbourne is another beautiful store I\u2019ve always loved, and just nearby you\u2019ll find High Street in Armadale, which is filled with Australian brands and is definitely a great shopping destination.<\/p>\n
More on local fashion <\/p>\n
From makers to labels on the global stage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How does New Zealand\u2019s unique sense of style and location influence the way we approach design? After a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1443,74,23607,85,34596,6181,8278,57100,14449,501,6435,122736,156,1438,2082,122737,221,11946,122735,39084,14448,5812,111,139,69,1527,39023,2791,6642,1361,223,61,1315,5427,2963],"class_list":["post-199426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-about","tag-after","tag-approach","tag-australia","tag-calm","tag-collected","tag-conditions","tag-cool","tag-crutchley","tag-design","tag-does","tag-dominique","tag-entertainment","tag-fashion","tag-for","tag-healy","tag-how","tag-influence","tag-influenced","tag-location","tag-madeleine","tag-make","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-return","tag-sense","tag-style","tag-tells","tag-that","tag-the","tag-to","tag-trip","tag-unique","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}