Off with the polar fleece

Top local fashion designers will soon be represented in the centre of the French capital at a concept store owned by Paris-based New Zealander Catherine McMahon. Koko, which will stock Trelise Cooper, Karen Walker, World, Zambesi, Kate Sylvester and Georgina Baker jewellery, opens on September 16 in the Marais, a district of central Paris known for up-and-coming designers. The labels Koko will stock are no strangers to exporting, but gaining loyal clients in the European fashion industry is challenging as many retailers are only interested in stocking a collection for a season or two. New Zealand labels can go through agents but they have a stable of other products they are promoting as well, McMahon said. She felt she needed to educate French people about New Zealand fashion. “God bless New Zealand Tourism for those wonderful ads about jetboats down the river and all that, but they think we all just wear polar fleeces.” Fashion label Trelise Cooper is opening its first flagship store outside of Australasia in Amsterdam next month.