A Mandatory celebration of style

June 15, 2007

A Mandatory celebration of style

Wellington’s wealth of style, sounds and fabulous people come together in July as iconic men’s fashion label Mandatory celebrates its tenth birthday.

Mandatory are hosting a spectacular event at the San Francisco Bathhouse, Cuba Street, on July 20, featuring a retrospective fashion show where local identities will model reinventions of Mandatory’s fashion from the past decade.

Gracing the catwalk will be filmmaker Taika Waititi, Fat Freddys’ Dallas Tamaira and Joe Lindsay, Daimon (The Nomad), The Phoenix Foundation’s Luke Buda, actor Jason Whyte and other local culture and fashion identities.

Music will be performed by Dallas Tamaira (Fat Freddys Drop), Scribes of Ra, and DJs Daimon (The Nomad), Kava and Marek, and local film production house Nektar will provide a new spin on the birthday photo collection with a giant multimedia presentation of Mandatory images past and present.

Operating in the heart of Wellington’s cultural quarter Cuba Mall, the fashion design partnership of owners Clare Bowden and Fiona Edwards gained success by focusing on what men look for in fashion.

“Retailing men’s fashion is a totally different business than women’s fashion,” said Ms Bowden. “Seasonal marketing, seen in women’s fashion, simply doesn’t apply for men. Men want clothes to last beyond years, let alone one season.

“We realised early on that generally men aren’t confident shoppers, so we’ve defined and refined our shop to be men-friendly. We’ve focused on enduring style and quality garments, designed and produced locally,” said Ms Bowden.

Throughout the past decade, Mandatory has been strong supporters of the Wellington arts and culture scene through sponsoring musicians and events.

“Mandatory is both proud and privileged to be associated with Wellington’s thriving cultural community,” said Fiona Edwards. “For us, this party is about celebrating the different parts of what makes this city so vibrant.

“This is definitely going to be a fashion event like no other that Wellington has seen for a long time!” she said.

Tickets $25+b/f available from Mandatory and Real Groovy Records and go on sale June 25.

ENDS

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