Our Journey
Wayne and I both grew up in very creative families who believed that if you want something, you should first try and make it yourself. This was the ethos in do-it-yourself New Zealand in the ‘70s, our hippy childhoods were all about roaming, exploring and making stuff.
Then we became ‘80s post-punk teenagers, listening to The Clash while we customised vintage finds. Instead of roaming the countryside, we explored the big city. In the ‘90s our parallel upbringings fused and together we built a brand. No surprises, we started by making everything ourselves. We met at university, I was studying fashion and Wayne graphic design.
Immediately we realised we complemented each other aesthetically and loved working together, bouncing ideas off each other, trying to impress each other, always pushing each other to do better. I had a part time market stall selling my designs and before I could blink Wayne created a brand for me and redesigned the fittings, and this is how we have worked ever since, I create the clothes and Wayne creates the world they inhabit.
After exploring the world together and then launching the Kate Sylvester brand, in the early 2000s we made a family together. We are a creative family, we believe that if we want something we should try and make it, and luckily for us we have found a community of people very keen to buy the stuff we make.
Kate Sylvester - Designer / Co-founder