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Twenty-seven names: Elaine’s best threads
Cool kids on the Wellington block twenty-seven names have become very popular in just two short years, producing edgy clothes that exude a stylish appeal way beyond the label’s young age. Designers Anjali Stewart and Rachel Easting have been best friends since primary school and they make a great team; Anjali bringing fashion know-how from her studies at the famed Otago Polytechnic and Rachel bringing her artistic flair from Otago’s Art School. If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard of them before, maybe you knew them as love-lies-bleeding; they had to re-brand because of copyright issues. But as our friend Prince knows, all great artists were once formerly-known-as something else. Twenty-seven names design both men’s and women’s wear and it is seriously hot! Although they are well known for their hip-casual denim and t-shirts, they also do fabulous jackets, skirts and glam dresses. Showing enormous growth since they started out, each of their collections is even better than the last one; but I don’t know how they’ll top their Summer ’08 collection ‘Jacques Attack.’ Inspired by all things marine and French, with the fabulously ‘90s Elaine from Seinfeld as their muse, the red, white and blue collection is super cool. If it was possible to eat a t-shirt, I would munch down on their ice cream sundae tee. Email interview: To satisfy your twenty-seven-cravings, Anjali from twenty-seven names answers our burning questions: I love your Spring/Summer '08 collection ‘Jacques Attack’. How did you come up with such a quirky inspiration combination? We were in France for New Year, and we really wanted to work with a strong blocked colour palette, so that's where the tri-colours come from. We also were thinking Paris in summer, which is where the marine ideas came from. Your muse is an unusual choice, Elaine from Seinfeld! Were you watching old episodes when that idea came to you? We are massive Seinfeld fans, and it was when they used to play it at 6pm on TV2, she has the best threads, and is ironically 90s which we love about her. Can we get any hints on your inspirations for your Winter '09 collection? Will Elaine still be around? Umm Patti Smith, Horses 1975 and Dave Chappelle's Block Party. Elaine is engrained! You debuted at ANZFW last year in a group show, and have shown at Id Dunedin Fashion Week a few times. Does this mean you feel prepared for your first individual show? No way! Doing a group show was so good, it felt like everything was organised for us. This time seems harder, and there are so many more seats to fill, which is scary. Congratulations on your label making the cover of Spring's Fashion Quarterly. Do these successes make all the hard work worthwhile? It was really wicked, we couldn't believe it really. For us the best thing about it was the idea that our stuff was shot in Paris. I think for us it was really motivating. Being such a young, rapidly growing label, you must have had some tests so far. What have been some hard moments? Best moments? The name change was hard, but everything worked out okay. Having orders cancelled or not being paid is always really hard, and also constantly trying to make sure everything is done in really tight timeframes. Best: travelling, we always have a good time on the road. What is in the future for twenty-seven names? Hopefully we can just keep doing what we are doing, if so, we will be happy! What’s it like when you see people wearing your label? I always point out by mistake which is embarrassing! Which celebrity would you love to see in your clothes? Alex Chung, she is so pretty it's ridiculous. Any other must see shows for you at ANZFW? Juliette Hogan – she’s our "mentor", Alexandra Owen, Jaeha, not sure how many we will get to as we are supposed to be selling! How are you going to celebrate after the show? Heaps of our friends and family are coming up, so we just will want to chill with them and say thanks (and book them in for next year). What's your most unfashionable secret? Every day I wear the same cardigan; I’ve had it since Dunedin. I used to just wear it at home, and then I started wearing it secretly when I got to work. Now I just rock it everywhere with pride. I like to call it my boho chic cardigan, but really, it’s five sizes too big, makes me look 20kgs heavier, and has a baby blue and brown 70s pattern running through it. Unfashionable? I don’t know… I bet these girls couldn’t look unfashionable if they tried! http://www.twentysevennames.co.nz/about.html http://www.showroom22.com/twenty-seven-names 
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