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Northern Advocate:
Rawene - where three's a trend
Far from the buzzing metropolis of city life,nestled on the shores of the idyllic waters of the Hokianga, lies Rawene - where there are three women which set the fashion trend.
Northland is well known for its famous small towns. Kerikeri, the citrus capital, Waitangi the nation's landmark and Russell, former capital, but what few people know , is the tiny town on the south side of the Hokianga is fast becoming the fashion hub of the North, the home to some of New Zealand's top fashion fashion talents.
Fashion designer, Lise Strathdee, dressmaker Carol Zambucka and hat/flower designer Judy Cartwright.
It is clearly not a thriving business in Rawene that pulls the drawcard for this trio, but the ambience and lifestyle that has won over their hearts and residency.
Lise Strathdee Lise lives and breathes fashion. She has seen her clothes strut down the catwalk during Milan Fashion Week. Born in London, she moved to Italy at 18 months of age then went to NZ and started school. She now runs the Outpost Hokianga in Rawene.
"I've always had a passion for clothes..it was a cover shot of an asymmetric chiffon shirt by Giorgio Armani that made up my mind."
And so at 18 years old she moved back to Italy and turned up at Giorgio Armani's palazzo.
"I buzzed on his door and explained earenstly that I'd come all the way from New Zealand to work for him. He was very polite and asked me what I could do - I told him I could start off making cups of tea for everyone. He told me to come back the next day and speak to his PA."
She suggested that Lise go to the Marangoni Institute to study and she did. After studying she wound up working for Armani as his window display and shop assistant. Armani's endorsement was enough for Lise who later scored jobs working for Yohji Yamamoto and Fiorucci.
But during a "touch of the fashion fatigue" in 2001 Lise visited the Hokianga and bought the Outpost building on impulse.
Lise now lives on the north side of the Hokianga in Kohukohu. She said it is the commute to work each day by ferry and the interesting people she meets that keeps her there. "There are no billboards ... great people and there is the freedom to do your own thing - it's priceless".
Lise operates the Outpost as a 21st century general store. She sells "beautiful things" including fashion and accessories,design books, paintings and photographs, beauty products and locally made food products which range in price from 50 cents to the thousands of dollars mark.
Lise has brought a metro flare to Hokianga which she has mixed with the ambience of the town to provide a range of goods she calls 'classic with a twist'.
......It was inevitable that Lise, Carol and Judy would strike up a friendship. Each respects the other's talents in the fashion industry and they all share a love for the Hokianga.
04 August 2007