T​​​​​​​hrough ​​​​​​​karen's​​​​​​​ Looking​​​​​​​ Glass

Her life may be an open book, but there’s a lot you don’t know about Karen Walker. New Zealand’s most high-profile and fascinating fashion designer opens up about success, family and fun

- Zoe Walker Ahwa

It’s 6.05am in Ponsonby, and Karen Walker is up and out of bed. New Zealand’s biggest fashion designer is early to bed, early to rise, with a regular weekday countdown to 7.30am when daughter Valentina needs to be out the door to catch the school bus. “There’s always some last minute thing that makes the morning chaotic. And for some reason,” she jokes dryly, “it takes a 10-year-old an hour and a half to get ready.”

It might be difficult to picture the 48-year-old dealing with domestic chaos, but this is the private side of Karen, behind the oversized glasses: the self-assured businesswoman, mother and wife at home.

Her morning ideally goes a little something like this: usually the first one downstairs before her daughter and husband Mikhail Gherman, she’ll brew a pot of her favourite Storm and India Vintage Earl Grey tea. Breakfast is porridge, thin Vogel’s with peanut butter, or a smoothie. Valentina makes her own breakfast, and she’s encouraged to make her school lunch too. 

“On a good day I’ll be sitting at the kitchen bench, having a cup of tea, listening to National Radio, catching up on what’s going on in the world, doing a few emails and keeping an eye on her,” says Karen. “That’s what we aim for.”

Right now, she is sitting in her open-plan kitchen-living area sipping tea, wearing Karen Walker jeans and a grey sweater with sneakers from sustainable brand Veja. Dog Laika sits at her feet chewing on her toys; the labradoodle joined the family last year, named after the first dog in space (daughter Valentina is named after the first woman).