A fun statement

Press, 4 April 1989, Page 15

A fun statement

Nicola Cameron’s winning design in the Young Designer section was a break from her usual style.

WAIKARI IS not a place which one associates with the fashion capitals of the world, but it is here, in the splendid seclusion of North Canterbury, that Nicola Cameron chooses to live and work.

Passing motorists may be surprised to see a sign in the middle of nowhere advertising fashion designs. But if it’s curiosity which brings them in, it’s the designs themselves which keep them, and the locals, coming back.

ment of a local advertising agency. “I didn’t really want to work for anyone else again after that.”

She made the decision to go out on her own, designing children’s clothes and knitwear. “I didn’t know anything about knitwear or childrenswear,” she laughs.

Neither does she have any formal training in fashion design. Her B.A. in History was mindbroadening but hardly relevant. “I was a terrible sewer. But I learnt pretty quickly.” She expanded her range to include fun clothes for teenagers, and

began selling to She in Christchurch, during which time her label, Jane Cameron, was established. Late last year she moved her label to Posh, where it sells alongside those of Robert Gormack and John Juriss. In the meantime, she opened her own “shop” in a shed behind her cottage on the edge of her parents’ farm.

Nicola’s winning design in the Benson and Hedges Young Designer section was everything one would have expected from the winner of that title — that is, young, zany and totally unexpected. It is, however, very dif-

ferent to her usual style. The clothes in Nicola’s shop are sporty classics, designed for the professional as well as the country woman. “All my ideas come to me when I’m doing something totally different,” she explains. “Sometimes I might sit down and actually work at something, but it’s never got the same flair. I don’t think I work as other people do. It just hits you.” Many people have interpreted her Benson and Hedges design as Egyptian or Islamic-inspired.

But according to Nicola, any cultural resemblance was unintentional. "It was just a fun statement. I just envisaged this pouffy thing over a short dress.” Her success in the awards came as quite a surprise. “I always tend to think that my stuff is not as good as everyone else’s. I really didn’t expect to get anywhere.” The atmospheric conditions of Waikari may have had something to do with it. “I’d never seen the Benson and Hedges on TV — we don’t get TV2 out here — so I didn’t know what sort of thing they

wanted.” With the judges’ comment that too many people design what they think the judges are going to like, Nicola’s lack of preconceptions probably worked to her benefit. Nicola plans to continue in a small way along the lines of her Benson and Hedges entry. While the larger part of her designs will keep their classical look, a selection of bold, slightly eccentric eveningwear will sell from Posh. Nicola would like to open a shop in Christchurch, and in the other

main centres, “but I’m not in any hurry. My goals change all the time.” At the moment, her largest volume of sales comes from her parties. These involve about 40 to 60 people gathering at a volunteer’s house to see, try and buy Nicola’s garments. The parties are a success not only in monetary terms, but in helping Nicola get to know her market and its demands. “Parties get first-hand feedback. If people don’t like something they’ll come right out and say it!”

Nicola Cameron has been designing for about 18 months. She started after being made redundant in the art depart-