Backstage Karen Walker Spring 2012, New York Fashion Week

It warms the cockles of our Black fashion hearts to see New Zealand designer Karen Walker’s continued appearance, season after season, on schedule at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week. Inspired by Taxi Driver, that most New York of movies, the collection bookends Betsy and Iris from the film as two different types of women that inform the range: “Betsy is feminine, elegant and aloof; Iris is tough and girlish” Walker told Maya Singer on Style.com. Black photographer Adam ‘Instant’ Custins captured some lovely backstage portraits on the day for inclusion in Black #15 but in the meantime here is a backstage teaser to celebrate...

Black Archive: Karen Walker SS 2003 - NZ Fashion Week

With New Zealand Fashion Week fast approaching we thought we’d revisit a seminal moment from NZFW’s past. In 2003 we produced two shows; Nom D's "Don't Shoot" and the following night Karen Walker SS 2003. Karen’s show was both a launch of the then brand new Karen Walker Jewellery range and a showing of a classic Karen Walker collection, albeit in midly controversial circumstances. KW creative maestro Mikhail Gherman concepted a simple brief: "Models on a large turntable rather than a catwalk and the jewellery displayed in those fun arcade display cases and a guy in an ape suit." The show, at Parnell’s York Street Studios hit the front page of the NZ Herald the next day; "NZ designer Karen Walker launches jewellery and shows sans catwalk." So here, in low res glory, is the only vid we could find of the show, replete with a fine selection of great NZ models; Amanda, Ngahuia, Louise, Anna, Melissa et al. A few images below...