Ziga-zig-ah Zambesi

I've been keeping my eye on clothing labels from the Southern Hemisphere for some time now, probably thanks in part to having an ex-boyfriend from Sydney (g'day, C. Gauchat) and two good friends from New Zealand (kisses to Lee Lee and Andy Pandy).

Fashion houses from these parts are undeniably daring, funky, edgy and quirky without ever crossing the line of being over-the top. It's more London Fashion Week than New York Fashion Week, and that's fine by me. Zambesi is an NZ-based label that's been around for awhile, founded by Elisabeth and Neville Findlay back in 1979. This brand took NZ fashion from frumpy to forward, encouraging the country's budding fashionistas to look at clothing differently, to use it as a means for self-expression and not merely for neccessity.

Zambesi's Spring/Summer 2008 collection is, oddly enough, full of white and black, lacking the bright pops of colors and prints so synonymous with that particular fashion season. Detail, tucks, pleats and buttons all add to the persona of the brand, while traditional silhouettes and fabrics are twisted ever so slightly to give them a fresh look.

Stockists for this brand are a little few and far between in North America, but you can find it at Elizabeth Charles (which specializes in Oz/NZ labels) on Hudson Street in New York and at Five Figs Couture in Northern California.

See, there's much, much more to New Zealand than "Whale Rider" and "Lord of the Rings".













I'm Lovin' it: The new Shop-A-Matic service on New York Magazine's site. It's slogan is "we window-shop so you don't have to". I think that's pretty self-explanatory.


I'm Over it: People who invade your personal space. Just now, the fix-it guy in our apartment building came by with Steffie's new door and brought along his wife. She came into my office and literally put her face two inches away from mine, asking why I hadn't hung up my pictures because "you know the lease agreement is bullsh*t and you can hang them up". You know what else is bullsh*t? Someone getting so close that you can smell what they ate for breakfast. And, by the way, those aren't my pictures anyway!


Band of the Day: Digitalism, an electronica group from Germany. My girl Seems saw their recent show when they came into town and said they rocked out. The two founding members, Jens "Jence" Moelle and Ismail "Isi" Tufekci, banded together in 2004 and released their debut album "Idealism" this past May 2007. Their tracks are DJ favorites, from Justice to Soulwax to Boys Noize and they count Daft Punk as one of their biggest influencers.







* Photos property of zambesi.co.nz, residentadvisor.net and are used solely for commentary purposes