Launch of Precious Collaborative

Wanaka’s newest fashion icon, Claire O’Connell, held her first event and auction last Friday, where a coat designed by Auckland designer Liz Mitchell sold for $10,000 to help the beginnings of the Precious Collaborative.

O’Connell started the collaborative as a way of creating clothing sourced from sustainable materials and sold at an affordable price.

Her win at the WoolOn 2024 sparked a friendship with Auckland fashion legend Mitchell, who was a judge at the competition.

Not long after O’Connell won the collections category, she sent Mitchell a box of fabric provided by Rod and Sue McLean of McLean & Co Weavers.

This caught Mitchell’s interest, as she too had a connection with wool fashion that lasted a lifetime and was sustainable as a result.

From there, the two designers embarked on a journey to help develop the Wanaka-based collaborative.

Mitchell agreed to design a coat out of the wool fabric and colours that O’Connell had supplied, which could then be auctioned off to further fundraise the start of Precious Collaborative.

The auction, which took place in Wanaka Treehouse at 1 pm, was attended by Mitchell as well as other sustainable fashion enthusiasts and supporters of O’Connell’s vision.

The afternoon began with O’Connell expressing the passion she had for this new project.

She described how unhealthy the fast fashion industry was, with its use of synthetic materials that did not last long and added more waste, unlike the coats being auctioned off that day.

‘‘These coats are like wearing your principles on your back.’’

After lunch was served, Mitchell also said a few words, echoing O’Connell’s principles regarding the need for longer lasting fashion and her own interest in using more wool to battle that issue.

Despite being based in Auckland, she loved Wanaka and felt that wool had ‘‘a strong presence’’ in the region, she said.

Not long after her speech, it was time to reveal the wellanticipated coats.

There was a silence before the reveal and then small gasps of awe when the McLeans emerged with the designer’s latest creations.

The coats, made of fine wool, represented Wanaka’s beloved landscapes with their ocean blue and deep green hues forming mountainous patterns inspired greatly by Marilyn Webb’s Folded in the Hills.

The guests all had an opportunity to try both the men’s and women’s coats on before the auction began.

The men’s coat was sold first for $10,000, which then became the starting bid for the women’s coat, as it was much longer and had more fabric and design.

Unfortunately, the women’s coat had no bids and was not sold, which means it will be going for market sale.

Mitchell will also be designing a similar coat available for sale through the Precious Collaborative website in early 2025, along with Ms O’Connell’s own ‘‘ready to wear’’ line of clothing.