Generally speaking, we all wake up and get dressed for the day – whether it’s in a Hi-Vis vest for a day on the tools or a sharp blazer for an important meeting.

How much thought and effort you put into your ensemble really depends on your day-to-day, and your own relationship with fashion. We’ve all heard the stories about those well-organised people who plan outfits for the week ahead, and others who wing it and let creative expression, their mood (and the weather) influence the look.

For fashion designers, getting dressed each day is literally part of the job – a way to show off their own personal style and brand’s identity.

Kathryn: Like most NZ women, I need my outfit to be flexible to suit my day from 8am to 8pm. I definitely start dressing with my shoes – deciding which pair or pairs I will use that day depending on where I need to be and for how long … then the outfit follows.

My approach to getting dressed is usually based around what I have happening that day. Often I need an outfit that will work for multiple tasks: being ‘mum’ and dodging sticky fingers, making breakfasts, racing into the office for meetings, after school and kindy drop off, calling into our retail stores to visit our team and re-merchandise new season stock, un-packing shoe cartons in our store room, attending sales appointments with wholesalers, design sessions and marketing planning, or trying on fit-samples for production, then calling into an event or launch if needed on my way home to the kids.

I often don’t have time to make it home in the day to change before an event or dinner after meetings, so I need my outfits to be suitable for work and play.

I love to support New Zealand brands and will keep pieces for years and mix in new season items from my favourite local brands. I don’t plan the week of outfits in advance, other than when travelling or if I need to work in outfits for events or black tie. This would be based on the shoes I want to wear!

My weekends are all about time with our kids, so I'm often dressed for comfort – walking the dog, painting or baking with the kids. I'm currently loving cotton shirt and short sets in bright colours worn with white leather sneakers.

By Tyson Beckett Zoe Walker Ahwa for The Dominion Post

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