Making waves abroad

CASUAL COOL: Garment from the Ketz-ke high summer 2009/2010 range, Escape.

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Tempo

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Former Waikato woman Jenny Drury is making her mark in China with new fashion label Ketz-ke.

Her fashion label, Ketz-ke, is stocked in 80 New Zealand stores and 30 in Australia, and is making serious inroads into China.

But you may not have heard of designer Jenny Drury, whose funky fashion streetwear is making waves around the globe.

A Waikato success story, she's is now taking on the world with her own brand of casual designer fashions.

One of four girls, Drury was born and raised in Cambridge.

She left Cambridge High School at age 17 to manage a Hamilton East fashion store.

"My passion for fashion overruled going to university," says Drury, now a 43-year-old Auckland mum to Matt, 6.

"People thought 'what was a young girl like me doing there?' But like most people who go into fashion, you don't just fall into it. You do it because you love it. I was very young but I knew my mind. I am still like that. I go with my instincts."

Drury's instincts must be spot on because her edgy Ketz-ke brand of clothing, launched just three years ago, is a roaring success.

In May she opened the first of three Chinese Ketz-ke stores in Guangzhou, partnering with a local company.

Drury's garments are manufactured in the province and she is keen to sell them to young Chinese women, who have a growing disposable income and appetite for the latest European trends.

The label is casual but feminine, with soft, colourful pieces designed to layer. Drury describes it as clothing "with an edge as well as function and wearability" that makes them at home in surfwear stores and fashion boutiques.

Drury launched Ketz-ke in 2006 but it wasn't her first foray into fashion design. Drury is probably best known for her label Ezzue, a clothing label for women designed for Paris Texas, and her Izaak range for men. She also previously worked for Federated Pacific, designing for the Curve, Juo and Shouq ranges. Her diverse career also includes co-owning a small newspaper on Bribie Island, Queensland, and working as a sales representative for a clothing company, travelling up and down New Zealand. She also used to manage Hamilton fashion boutique Jag.

Drury's retail and fashion industry connections helped when she established the Ketz-ke label three years ago, enabling her to get stocked in 70 New Zealand stores for the first range. "(Retailers) knew me and 

trusted me," she says.

Collections are released four times a year, seasonally, and are available locally in surf stores such as Spot X and NorthBeach.

Drury's high-summer 2009/2010 range, Escape, features feminine dresses, beachy tops and stylish pants. Though some garments can be dressed up, the range has a casual, relaxed feel, with lots of layers, ruffles, fresh colours and interesting details, including twist-tie necklines and cut-away sleeves and backs.

"It's about having fun, wearing what you want, a bit of razzle-dazzle by the pool," Drury says.

She has just finished her next collection for winter 2010, called Experiment, with punk-inspired pieces featuring zip, chain and stud detail and lots of layering tees and leggings.

This year Drury has expanded the Ketz-ke label to include bags, belts, jewellery necklaces, leather bracelets and footwear. The floral bloom sneakers, pictured previous page, are one of Tempo's favourites for spring/ summer.

This month Drury launches a sexy boudoir-style rumba brief. One of the most common questions asked is where the unusual brand name Ketz-ke came from. As far as Drury knows, it doesn't mean anything. She just likes the sound and that it is unusual and eye-catching. "It comes from a street name I saw when I was overseas (in the US) and I put it in my memory bank."

After difficulties registering and trademarking previous label names, such as Izaak, she wanted a name that was unique and different. She's been able to secure websites using the Ketz-ke name and trademarked it in New Zealand, Australia and China.

Drury travels at least six times a year for work and her trips overseas also inspire her designs. "This year I've been everywhere LA, New York, San Francisco, Paris, Milan, Spain, London."

China is a key destination, it's where she wants to grow her market and where her designs come to life in a factory. Even the fabrics are sourced in China, from massive fashion markets and stores. "It's floor-to-ceiling and can get really confusing, but I know straight away what I like," Drury says. "I'm very decisive."

She believes her diverse background holds her in good stead as a fashion designer. "It's quite important to know how retail works. You need to know how to go out and sell and be level-headed about business decisions. There are so many designers who have so much talent, but no idea how to market and price garments."

Drury says being a successful designer is not glamorous or easy. "You get a lot of wrinkles and grey hairs," she jokes.

She works from home, an advantage for having time with her son and her husband, an Air New Zealand pilot.

The office is the double garage "which no cars can fit into now", but working from home also means Drury doesn't "ever get away from work, even on Saturdays and Sundays.

"But I don't begrudge it," she says. "I get a lot of things done."

TIPS FROM KETZ-KE DESIGNER JENNY DRURY

• LOVE LAYERS: "I'm into layering," Drury says. "When I dress I don't wear just one item like a dress. I might wear a singlet, a T-shirt and a waist-coat over the top." Layering is great for spring/ summer, especially on days when the temperature goes from blazingly hot at midday to chilly evening.

 

 

• BE UNIQUE: "Find your look and own it," she recommends. "I'm always looking to add something to outfits which add a bit of interest, something to attract the eye." A scarf, a brooch, a stylish cardigan or sassy hat can all help jazz up an otherwise plain outfit. "Make the garments your own. Add something to it necklaces, bracelets, a striped singlet underneath poking out the bottom."