fabricflowers

Written on a wall in Laurie Foon's office in brown crayon is a phrase: "Eco Antique". It sits just above the door and next to an impressive mood board, a colourful collage of vintage images, fashion shoots, quotes, fabric swatches and dangling pieces of fabric. It's here that Foon and her Starfish team come every day to work on the collections that have made the label a much-loved Wellington icon.

Sitting on the fifth floor of a building block on Victoria St, the workroom is an oasis of calm in the chaos of a fashion workroom: the team working quietly among clothing racks of patterns, boxes of fabric scraps on the cutting table and Foons bicycle and lilac bike helmet sitting next to various rolls of fabric.

The Starfish team has been busy preparing for their show at Wellington Fashion Week later that night, although all seems surprisingly serene for a show that's just hours away - the only sign is someone masking the soles of the heels over in the corner. "It's the calm before the storm jokes Foon, as she takes me into her office to show me through the collection that will be on the runway later. Pieces of amethyst and quartz sit on her windowsill with a view looking out on to city buildings. Foon explains the collection is called Common Thread and examines the idea of women being individuals but also linked by common ideas.

The colours are wonderful a buttery yellow is a standout - and there's a print developed with textile artist Greta Menzies, a recent graduate of Massey University (a relationship with the university is important to Foon; many of the girls in the workroom are graduates The range also continues Foon's use of environmentally friendly fashion practices: New Zealand-made, locally dyed colours that meet the Oeko-tek Standard 100, natural eco-friendly fabrics, and ideas of timelessness; pieces to be passed on rather than thrown away. Foon is honest about the difficulties and costs of keeping up these practices admitting it's really hard