Craft-making skills have long been a family tradition for Dunedin fashion designer Tamsin Cooper, who discovered her passion for hand embroidery as a child.
Learning from her grandmother Joyce Gemmell (91), and community craft classes, Tamsin went to on develop a unique fashion range that she designs in New Zealand and has manufactured in Vietnam – a nation that places as much importance on handcrafts as she does.
“My grandmother is an amazing embroiderer,” says Tamsin. “She sewed my mother’s and her siblings’ clothes when they were kids. During the school holidays, my sister, my cousins and I took embroidery classes in Oamaru, where my grandmother lives. An important part of what I’m doing now in Vietnam is keeping that traditional craft alive.”
When Tamsin first visited North Vietnam 12 years ago, she discovered small, rustic communities of skilled artists producing traditional arts and crafts with a history dating back hundreds of years.
In 2003, when the fashion designer launched her eponymous label, she was inspired to return to the formerly war-torn nation, which has become the leading producer of her garments.
“I work with small family businesses and do not use factories,” says Tamsin (39), who adds that her garments are produced in comfortable working conditions that pay above the average wage.
Tamsin says New Zealand doesn’t have a boutique labour force for hand-embroidery, so she’s delighted she can provide income for villages where the craft is a key part of daily life.
“They’ve been producing traditional craft for thousands of years. There are villages that specialise in crafts such as embroidery, ceramics and weaving. For generations, each village has focused on a different genre of craft.”
Tamsin’s manufacturing philosophy centres around “trading with a conscience”. Since Vietnam became part of the World Trade Organisation in 2006, the opening of factories in cities forced some people to leave their villages to find work.
“I support non-urbanisation,” explains Tamsin. “Craftwork enables workers to feed and clothe their families without them having to go away from home for work. It’s all about the sense of fostering the community. The craftwork they provide has been their way of life for a long time, and what I am doing is just a small way of helping to keep the community together. It’s about buying from the locals.”
Tamsin was introduced to the family business that produces her range while holidaying in Hanoi in 2002. Her parents had been in the country previously and were given silk sleeping bag liners made by the small company. Tamsin took gifts on behalf of her parents to thank the Vietnamese locals for the liners. She built a relationship with them that’s grown as sturdy as her fashion label.
It’s a long way from her Arrowtown beginnings, where she sold directly to retailers before relocating to Dunedin to open her flagship store. In April, she launches a menswear range in a performance choreographed by Royal New Zealand Ballet dancer Loughlan Prior, who’s teamed up with Otago Rugby Football Union rugby players Peter Breen, Michael Collins, Fa’asiu Fuatai and Tai Waldenon for a catwalk show at iD Dunedin Fashion Week (March 30 – April 6). In 2012, the bubbly designer co-presented Hearts and Crafts on TVNZ Heartland, a 13-part series profiling Kiwi craft people and artists.
“There have been many momentous things happen, one being approached by the Royal New Zealand Ballet to work with them on three collections.
I created merchandise from evening bags to scarves to ballet shoe bags,” says Tamsin.
Her affiliation with the Royal New Zealand Ballet saw her travel to New York in February. She designed accessories for 19 dancers and a one-off coat for ballet royalty, dancer Gillian Murphy.
The busy single mum of Hugo (10) and Louis (3) now visits Vietnam once a year, and transfers aspects of the vibrant culture back to her Dunedin life.
“I make Vietnamese dishes,” she says. ”I love the salads and layers of flavours.”
Tamsin says she’s humbled by the people of Vietnam.
“I feel a huge amount of respect for what they do. They are amazing people, incredibly talented. When I talk to people about my garments and how they are made, I always talk about who makes them. It would be lovely if I could credit each person that makes a product. I feel really privileged to have experienced being part of another culture. I encourage other people to collaborate where they can.”