This week I ventured into Auckland City to get my slice of New Zealand Fashion Week 2015 with the Resene Designer Selection Show. This is a really popular show that the general public can attend and its a great way to see the up-and-coming trends as they showcase a little bit of everything from all the top designers at Fashion Week.

It opened with the 10 looks from the Resene NZ Fashion Tech Colour of Fashion collection which was a riot of colour from Fashion Tech students. We then got to see snippets from some wonderful collections, my highlights being; 

Sabatini
twenty-seven names
Harman Grubisa
Sean Kelly 

Bonds and Jockey NZ also had a segment in the show showing off their latest underwear collections. I love both these brands as they can be fun, comfortable and sexy. But I have to admit that the highlight for me with this segment was the All Blacks in their undies!!

I do love supporting New Zealand Fashion designers but that usually comes at a high-end price. One New Zealand designer that I love is the label Ketz-Ke. I was given a bag designed by the label back in 2007, which was bright yellow and doubled up brilliantly as a 'Nappy Bag' when my son was born, and I re-discovered the label again recently.

It was founded in 2006 by Auckland designer Jenny Drury who saw a gap in the Australasian market between boutique and streetwear with feminine styling and a distinctive creative edge, so she created Ketz-Ke. Her aim was to offer quality, casual, style-led contemporary women's clothing that stands out from the crowd. The label quickly developed an avid fan base that delighted in the brands fantastic fit, distinctive colour's, versatile fabrics and reasonable price points. 

After four highly successful seasons Jenny created a trans-seasonal basics range (Ketz-Ke ESSENTIALS) and later expanded the labels offering with a small selection of sophisticated garments, known as Ketz-ke BLACK on top of their ever popular accessories range of bags and belts. 

Ketz-ke is available in over 95 retail outlets throughout New Zealand. Here is my pick from their Spring Collection.

Sass Kimono $98.00, Stripe Humbug pant $129.00 & bird Tee $98.00, and Element Jumpsuit $189.00.

The Shop. opened its doors in the Milford Centre, on Auckland's North Shore, on Saturday 01 August. The Shop. are the first Boutique to stock the popular Spanish brand Zara in New Zealand. I managed to get along to check them out, unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take photos and at the time they didn't have any publicity shots, but as soon as I receive any I'll post them here.

The Shop. stocks Zara's womens, mens and children's lines and it was great to see something a bit different in the market for kids. The prices weren't too marked-up, but I did think that the clothes on display looked a bit disheveled and I don't know if that's because everything has just come out of boxes? Saying that I tried on quite a few pieces that I liked and even walked away with a funky animal print coated trouser, see below, for $79.95.

I did ask if they're were any plans for online purchasing, but unfortunately there isn't going to be a website at present.

I was overjoyed to hear that Zara is coming to Auckland, and in particular the North Shore, as that is my shopping haven most of the time. For those of you not familiar with Zara it is a Spanish brand and it is known for taking the trends from the catwalks and creating up to the minute versions at a fraction of the cost!

'The Shop' is opening in the Milford Centre on Saturday 01 August, and promises to stock a wide selection of womens, mens and kids clothes straight from Spain, as well as other up-and-coming New Zealand labels.

I am a lover of Zara from my time in the UK and it is one of the stores I always head to when I go back or more recently head to Australia. I have noticed that in Australia it did seem slightly more expensive than I remembered from the UK so it will be interesting to see what the price point is here.

I am hoping to get along to the VIP opening tonight, and if I do I promise to tell all here. But regardless I will take a look and update you next week on what I see in stock and whether The Shop will also have any online presence?

The images below are taken from ZARA Singapore, as they are currently highlighting the Spring trends, so I thought it would give you an idea of what we have to come.

ZARA Singapore