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Emilia Wickstead was destined to work in fashion from a young age. Growing up in New Zealand, Wickstead watched as her mother studied to become a pattern maker and eventually a designer. “Every day after school, I would go to her studio or her store and watch her fit in client after client,” Wickstead said. “I would fill her pin cushions. I would get to understand from a very early age, sort of what women wanted, essentially.”
After launching her eponymous label in 2008, Wickstead has gone on to design ready-to-wear, bridal, home, and more. On the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, Wickstead shares how her upbringing helped shape her relationship with fashion, the pieces she loves from her latest pre-fall collection, and more.
Scroll below for excerpts from their conversation.
I’d love to start out if you can share a bit about your upbringing and how you first formed your relationship with fashion.
Born and raised in New Zealand, and my mother, she was 24 at the time, she decided to go to tech to study to be a pattern maker and to sew clothing and essentially be a designer. That was the same year that I was born.
That’s all I’ve really ever known. It was always just my mom and I in Auckland. I saw her business grow from its birth, and I got to understand and witness things that became incredibly inspiring without me even realizing it.
Every day after school, I would go to her studio or to her store and watch her fit in client after client. I would fill her pin cushions. I would get to understand from a very early age, sort of what women wanted, essentially.
This was in the glory days of the ’90s. Of course, you know, women were incredibly dressed up. From New Zealand, that’s a really big thing to say, because New Zealand is quite a casual country.
In those days, I mean, I can still see the outfits now. My mother would have fashion shows at my aunt’s house, and everyone would get dressed up, and it was a feast for the eyes, let’s say.
I guess that was my first introduction, really, to seeing women in matching jackets and trousers, and dresses for an occasion. That (without me even realizing) was of huge influence.
At what point in your upbringing did you feel like you had found this sense of your own personal style, and then when did you realize that that was something you wanted to translate into your brand?
At Emilia Wickstead, we’re dressing discerning women. We have this dedication to quality and beauty above all else.
We have this considered femininity. This precision and structure, but we’re also quite experimental, and we design into a world of fantasy, and that’s what is incredibly fashion forward about us as a brand.
Interestingly enough, when I was very young, my mother said that it would always be a huge argument over what I would wear—even to nursery—because I would want to dress myself and wear all sorts of layers.
Apparently, I had to have days that were scheduled for when I dress myself and when she would dress me, because I was so passionate about what I would wear and what I wanted to wear, and very forthcoming with those ideas. It was all a little crazy.
Into my early teens, when you start to get a feel of who you are and who you want to be. I had a haircut like a boy. It was two centimeters long. I had flowers in my hair, or I’d dress as a skater girl, and I would only wear men’s clothing.
I did all sorts of things and was just very free, I would say. I think that’s the beauty of growing up in New Zealand.
I’m quite surprised at how liberal my mother was with me. By the time I was a teenager, she had built quite an outstanding, brilliant brand that when I did move to Milan at 14, I remember arriving with my very short boy haircut and all of a sudden seeing femininity everywhere and sort of thinking, “Oh, my goodness, maybe I’m going to try that out.”
No one was casual. Everyone was dressed up. Every day was an occasion.
All of a sudden, I guess I became incredibly fascinated with that and then transformed myself again.
For listeners looking to shop the pieces from the [pre-fall] collection, what are some of the items that you are most excited about, and what can you tell us about the whole world that this collection will embody?
I absolutely love this collection. This was the collection inspired by Rossellini’s film Journey to Italy. It’s filled with wonderful things that I love.
In particular, I love that we have a beautiful blue gingham story, which is a mixture of painterly gingham lines all in different hues of blue.
There’s this beautiful cotton summer dress that I’ve actually been wearing every day.
Emilia Wickstead
Eglantine Dress in Blue Painted Gingham Cotton Poplin
Also, there is a favorite jacket and dress in the collection, which is in a single wool crepe and beautiful apple green. It’s called the Lizette Jacket and Leontine Dress.
Emilia Wickstead
Lizette Jacket in Fresh Green Single Wool Crepe
Emilia Wickstead
Leontine Dress in Fresh Green Single Wool Crepe
I also love the Collins Dress. There are two of them that are in the green, but to be paired with this little, short, boxy jacket, which has this very strong topstitching and big buttons. It feels very contemporary, but also like I could wear it.
Emilia Wickstead
Collins Dress in Fresh Green Single Wool Crepe
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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