Karen Walker: Right Recipe for Success
Karen Walker is New Zealand’s best-known designer. Her first runway collection came in 1998 (Hong Kong Fashion Week), and was entitled ‘Daddy’s Gone Strange’. A mannish theme saw a reworking of traditional men’s business suits and the range was picked up by Barneys in New York. That purchase saw Walker’s name hit the headlines when Madonna bought and wore a pair of her ‘killer pants’ in which to perform at the 1998 MTV awards. Karen Walker was part of the New Zealand Four group show at London Fashion Week in 1999 and 2000, and in September 2000 became the first New Zealander to have a solo show at New York Fashion Week. The Karen Walker style is tailored, modern and androgynous - with an emphasis on cut. She often juxtaposes masculine and feminine; luxurious and ugly. Trademark accessories include overlong men’s ties and pearls. Marcus von Ackerman of Paris Vogue has said of her: ‘I greatly admired Karen Walker's refreshing, original collection. It managed to combine edgy, gothic, sartorial wit with pure modern elegance and, above all, it was impeccably finished. It was utterly divine’. Walker’s success is due not only to her design talent; she has marketed a package with an X factor, something she herself possesses; she is media-friendly, good-looking and has made some astute business decisions.
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