Designer goes with Perriam brand

Fashion designer Christina Perriam, of Wanaka and Tarras, is rebranding her labels - 'Christina...
Fashion designer Christina Perriam, of Wanaka and Tarras, is rebranding her labels - 'Christina Perriam' and 'Suprino Bambino' - as 'Perriam' later this month. Supplied photo.
Central Otago fashion designer Christina Perriam is to rebrand her fashion business and will host a catwalk fashion show, complete with Champagne and high tea, at her family's property, Bendigo Station, in Tarras on October 18.

Ms Perriam's labels - ''Christina Perriam'' and ''Suprino Bambino'' - will be rebranded as ''Perriam'' and the fashion show will launch her Perriam Woman Summer 2015 collection.

She said her shop, The Merino Shop, in Tarras was being renovated to coincide with the launch, and her online shop, perriam.co.nz, would go live on the same day.

''The continuing growth of Suprino Bambino and Christina Perriam made me feel it was time to develop a united lifestyle brand that sat under the one label,'' Ms Perriam said.

''`Perriam' was an easy choice because it is my last name and embodies my heritage.''

Ms Perriam has been designing womenswear and baby/children's clothing for about 10 years and she works from premises in Wanaka.

She and one employee make up the design samples in Wanaka, and the clothing ranges are manufactured in factories in Temuka and Christchurch.

Before the move to Wanaka she took over the Tarras shop after her mother Heather passed away in 2010.

As the business was going well, and having identified a gap in the market, she decided to expand. To promote her merino lifestyle designs, she attended a trade fair in Auckland and spent two weeks on a field trip around the country talking to retailers about her lines.

Her brands are now with 27 retailers.

''I put it in front of people and had a really good response,'' she said.

Once she has completed her rebranding, she will consider opening another shop in Queenstown and, later, others further afield.

Expansion will mean the need for increased volumes of product, which might mean going overseas for manufacturing, something she does not want to do.

''We will cross that bridge when we come to it.''

She also invested heavily in the new website, which she intends to be a main selling outlet, and is keen to target the ''grandparent market'', a sector that has big spending power.

- by Yvonne O'Hara 

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