Dallas Cunningham's childhood love of sewing led her into the fashion design industry more than 30 years ago. She talks to Jude Hathaway about a career which she has no plans to leave.
Aunty. The word can conjure up many images. This one basks in individuality, classy style and a touch of the zany.
And it's not a person, but the clothing label created three years ago by long-established Dunedin designer Dallas Cunningham and her niece, Dallas Synnott.
Cunningham, who is the label's mainstay, tends to the fashion design, pattern-making and manufacturing of the garments, with the invaluable assistance of her machinist Christine Turner, at her spacious studio workroom at the family home.
Synnott designs the T-shirt prints and looks after the website and administration.
"We came up with the label, Aunty, for several reasons,'' Cunningham explained.
"I'm Dallas' aunty, she is also an aunty and we like the Polynesian way of referring to all women to whom there are close ties as ‘Aunty'. There were also the young Kiwis in the GC programme who called any hot chick ‘Aunty'. It was a way of showing we target women of all ages.''
Garments are sold through Guild, the delightful store established by the non-profit organisation Dunedin Designed Inc, in Moray Pl.
Like the other designers, Cunningham works in the store once a week.
A feature of Aunty is the fabrics, which reflect Cunningham's respect for and knowledge of good quality textiles that make the garments "sing''.
Another facet of the label - which includes tops, pants, coats, jackets and dresses - is the use of vibrant colours.
"There's a lot of joy,'' says Irish-born Synnott, whose main work is in event management but who "dabbles'' in illustration and graphic design.
Hints of grunge and rock glam and that certain twist to conventional designs help to set Aunty garments apart. Many are one-offs.
Synnott's respect for her aunt's abilities is strong, not only for her knowledge of all facets of garment-making but in her ongoing enthusiasm for the craft which sees her mentoring many young would-be designers.
Dallas Cunningham has worked quietly, without hullabaloo or hubris, within the industry for almost 40 years. It was as a child that she honed her sewing skills.
"It was actually my dad, Robert [Bob] Johnson, who first taught me how to use a sewing machine. He operated Household Supplies on George St which sold sewing machines and he got me started. I was 8,'' she said.
"And I remember at Macandrew Intermediate finishing everyone's sewing homework for them. I quite enjoyed it.''
It was also at Macandrew Intermediate that Cunningham first met Lana Neumegen who, as her art teacher, encouraged her artistic talents.
The two women would, fortuitously, meet up again a few years later.
Holding to her childhood dream of becoming a dress designer, she left secondary school and was accepted as assistant fashion co-ordinator for outerwear at Sew Hoys, the then massive Dunedin clothing manufacturing company.
Three years later, following their marriage, she and her husband, Rob Cunningham, headed overseas, joining her sister, Shirley Johnson, in Dublin.
Here she spent a year gaining formal training at the Grafton Academy of Dress Design. She was an A-grade student.
Returning home in 1985, she became fashion designer for the Dunedin-based Chelsea Girl stores and Starkers Jean Company.
She went on to work as a part-time pattern-grader for Dunedin jeans company Bendigo Blues and Streets Clothing while her children, Loren, Riley and Leroy were small.
By then Lana and Keith Neumegen had established Clockwork Fashions Ltd, a national childrenswear manufacturing business with retail store, Brothers and Sisters, and Cunningham joined them as a pattern-maker and designer for the 10-15 age group.
"However, with the lifting of import tariffs and the surge of cheaper clothing from overseas, the Neumegens were forced to close Clockwork Fashions Ltd and in 1995 Lana and I joined forces to form St Clair Design.''
With their small team of skilled machinists - including Christine Turner - and pattern-cutters they built up and maintained a business centred on their fashion label Hallelujah.
"We created seasonal ranges from which garments could be altered and adapted to fit customers' various figure-types. It had a real personal touch,'' said Cunningham.
"We also designed and made made-to-measure wedding attire and often looked after mothers of brides and grooms.''
Theirs was a highly successful partnership that would last for 17 years, driven by Mrs Neumegen's business acumen, knowledge of the apparel industry and marketing skills and complemented by Cunningham's design talent.
"We operated from the first floor of the building on the corner of Bond and Jetty Sts. As a studio, workroom and showroom it became a popular destination for tours comprising those who enjoyed experiencing the fusion of traditional craft and designer fashion. We also had fashion design students coming in for work experience. It was an exciting time.''
In 2010 with the landlord requiring new uses for the site, the business relocated to a first-floor workroom and studio, previously occupied by Tanya Carlson, in George St. A ground-floor retail store was also opened on the corner of George and London sts.
But the vagaries of the marketplace and the fickleness of the fashion industry would soon bite.
"It was the huge rise in internet shopping that really affected us and we found ourselves ironically altering and adapting bridal gowns - often made from inferior fabrics - that had been purchased by brides-to-be from overseas websites.
"It was extremely disappointing and in 2012, with a lot of regret, we closed.''
By then the "Aunty'' concept was just around the corner and her custom design and make service, which includes bridal wear, was bubbling along.
"At the same time I was also very aware how fortunate I was not being reliant on my career for survival,'' she said.
Her granddaughter Ivy (12 months) would, more lately, also be the catalyst for new design challenges.
Recently released by daughter Loren and Cunningham is the Young Pups line of infant wear which, at this stage is only marketed by way of Facebook.
It is a small range but has the same point of difference of all Cunningham designs.
"I'm learning to be a bit like Madonna and just keep on reinventing myself.'' she said, eyes twinkling.
Cunningham has a built-in elegance mixed with quirky style manifested, in part, by signature dreadlocks which she wears to give her hair volume, and a certain sass!And this is a lady for which "retirement'' is anathema.
Her glance sweeps the workroom. "I cannot comprehend ever retiring from all this. It's been so much a part of me for so long.''
