The Fabric Of Success

Ten years on from launching her label, Ingrid Starnes is going from strength to strength. The designer tells Phoebe Watt about her exciting new milestone

Pride of place in Ingrid Starnes’s new boutique is a large framed print from the fashion designer’s AW17 The Lost Pink Valley look book. In it, Kiwi model Veronica Crockford-Pound – who is also Ingrid’s niece – is wearing a sheer silk pink embroidered organza Hatum dress, posing at a spot about four hours into the Tongariro Crossing. The group of seven, which included model, hair and makeup artist, photographer, videographer, Ingrid and her team, had started the hike one February morning at 5.30am, carrying between them hundreds of kilograms of garments and gear. Despite shooting in the middle of summer, the high altitude had all their clothes jewelled with ice particles.

Anyone who’s ever been on the set of a fashion shoot knows it’s a high-stress, mentally and physically draining exercise even in a photo studio, with bathrooms, running water and coffee-making facilities and, y’know, walls. Take all that away, add frosty temperatures and rocky terrain, and you can start to imagine the kind of steely, all-or nothingness that lies behind Ingrid’s success.

From humble, challenging beginnings sewing and selling clothes out of her own home with twin toddlers in the next room and a baby on her hip, to small boutiques, the 37-year-old has recently opened the store of her dreams on Auckland’s popular retail and restaurant strip Ponsonby Road. Every garment reflects the considered workmanship and attention to detail she is known for – delicate draping, beautiful fabrics, unique finishing touches. As if the new flagship store wasn’t enough to celebrate, Ingrid and the team have also just raised a glass to the label’s 10th anniversary.

How did your label begin?