WORLD – New Zealand Design Emporium
Whilst I was at New Zealand Fashion Week in September, I couldn’t resist popping along to the legendary WORLD boutique at Britomart in Auckland, to see what gorgeous delights they had in store.
Luckily for me, the delightful designer and co-owner of the brand, Francis Hooper had opened the store up early, so I could have a great explore of all the clothes, trinkets, extravagances and little touches that make the brand what it is.
WORLD is truly an amazing shopping emporium. I could spend hours in there and I could spend hours chatting away to Francis to be honest. A truly fabulous man who has such a knowledge of the fashion industry, a passion for good design, stylish fit and as the brand suggests from their stores, a lot of fun!
WORLD has been at the forefront of fashion in New Zealand for 23 years now. The brand design and make all their clothes in New Zealand, a womenswear and menswear brand, and now with a store in Britomart, they are helping to make the area the shopping and social destination in Auckland.
It’s true that the staff at WORLD (who are often the designers themselves) will go a little bit “Gok Wan” on their customers. They may psychoanalyse your wardrobe choice but that is what the WORLD Man and Woman want. People go there for the attention, for the experience. The brand gives fashion a voice and wants women to evolve their style to suit themselves, not to dress for others.
“The WORLD woman is a person in society who sits outside ‘The Cool’” Designer Francis Hooper.
There are no ruffles and frills on the WORLD’s womenswear. Its all about structure and tailoring which is why they offer a tailoring service. They want their customers to look their best, and to show off the collection along with their style. To describe the collections that the team put together is best said as light, irreverent and maybe a little bit crazy?!
Womenswear is designed by Francis and Denise L’Estrange-Corbet whilst menswear is by Benny Castles and they take WORLD collections to Europe and come back with so many weird and wonderful goodies that this is how their stores have become the emporium they are today. Perfumes by Amouage Fragrance, high level beauty brands such as Leif and Tokyo Milk, trinkets, antiques.
The WORLD store at Britomart is like walking into the living room of Charles Darwin and his beauty obsessed wife (if she existed!). I could spend hours with the perfumes from Paris and the collectibles from Italy. Basically everything that is in my head as a covetable item is here, if only I had the country house in France to show it all off.
Yes WORLD is expensive but is not just about shopping for a new piece for your wardrobe, it is an experience. It is about looking and feeling fabulous and remastering the personal experience of shopping days gone by.
“For an hour or so the WORLD woman is her own woman only. She is dressing her mind” Designer Francis Hooper.
WORLD really is a creative design brand, the team work hard but they play hard too. There is passion and it shows though, they haven’t sold out to the mainstream.
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Michelle November 24, 2013 at 6:14 pm
Great read Rach. I love World…it was one of my first designer pieces….the Octopus sleeve mesh tops!