Liz Mitchell is a New Zealand Fashion Week veteran, with seven Fashion Weeks under her belt. Despite her vast experience, 2017 promises to be her most exciting collection yet - featuring Harris Tweed, and a surprise still to be announced. Mitchell is a passionate ambassador for The Campaign For Wool, and this collection will showcase the texture and colour of wool. The mood is inspired by the 1970s, with a hand-crafted, nostalgic feel. Mitchell thinks NZFW is a great platform to show woollen garments, “it’s the perfect place to raise awareness for the beauty of wool and its unique properties,” says Mitchell.
Mitchell’s training began at Elam, where she studied Fine Arts. Going from art to design was a natural step, and Mitchell’s first fashion job was as the costume designer at the Mercury Theatre. Ascending quickly within the costume design arena, Mitchell moved to TVNZ, and worked on the acclaimed series Gloss and Marlin Bay. Inspired by her love of fashion and design, and with a yearning to work more closely to the heart of the fashion industry, Mitchell began her own eponymous fashion label in 1994. The label is still going from strength to strength, as a leading bespoke, couturier. In the intervening years, Mitchell has been awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the New Zealand Fashion Industry.
Mitchell is the sole designer of Liz Mitchell, and works with a small team of skilled technicians, who assist with bespoke and couture pattern making, garment sampling and hand finishing. For hand knits, weaving and crochet, Mitchell has a group of talented artisans under her wing, who craft many of her woollen pieces. The business is primarily bespoke tailoring and couture, based in their atelier and showroom in Auckland. While Liz Mitchell is not wholesaling currently, there are seasonal trunk shows in Wellington, and other cities by appointment.
