JANINE AKA CAPZ CUTTING
Cuttering and block fusing
Robyn connected us with Janine who runs Capz Cutters in Kingsland, Auckland. The business is a small team that works for many NZ industry based clients. This season is our first time working with Janine but we are very excited as she has a great industry reputation. Capz will fuse and cut our garments.
JULEE AND KEVIN at SAVANT PACIFIC
Fashion Trims
Kevin and Julee operate Savant Pacific in Eden Terrace, Auckland. They are a lovely team and an absolute pleasure to work with. We source all of our fashion trims from here. Their stock originally comes from overseas but we mainly work with what's in stock at their Eden Terrace showroom to avoid having to freight more in. It works well for our small runs and they are incredibly generous, supportive and accommodating with that!
IAN & SHANNON AKA STIRLING CUTTING
Pattern grading, block fusing and cutting
Stirling Cutting is a family run business based in Papakura. Run by Ian and Shannon, they are genuine down to earth people who offer lots of guidance and advice. Pera was blown away meeting the team as to how wonderful and welcoming they were, such a pure business model with incredible workplace culture. They have shifted their business model from large scale production that was often fast fashion, to support slow fashion, smaller production runs and attention to quality and values rather than volume. They use top of the line technology to ensure that there is minimal cut wastage and accuracy. Stirling provides cutting, fusing, grading and both digital and flat pattern making. This will be our first time working with them and we are very, very excited to be doing so!
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OLWYNNE WHITE AKA GRANDMA
Knitter
Olwynne, better known as Grandma, is our Knitter. She was the person who introduced Pera to the wild and wonderful world of fashion when she was young, so it has been such a blessing for her to be able to involve her grandma in this whirlwind journey. Olwynne is one the biggest inspirations of PM.
She is the sole maker of our knitted pieces and together she and Pera design the styles. She works from her home in Christchurch. She knits samples and then creates made-to-order pieces throughout each season. Behind every strong woman is an even stronger woman! Pera’s Mother and Grandmother are two of the most inspirational and fully involved team members behind the PM vision - without them there literally and physically would be no PERA MAY!
ROBYN WEAVER AKA CARRINGTON CLOTHING
Sample and Production Machinist
Robyn Weaver is the OG. She is the heart and freaky soul of Pera May. Without her, PM would not be what it is today. She is the epitome of how a business should run in terms of employee/employer relationships. Loyal, honest, beyond supportive, extremely hard-working, dedicated to the vision, patient and truly we just have way too much FUN!
Pera was Introduced to Robyn by a friend and from there the relationship flourished. Originally a production machinist, Robyn’s career specialised in large scale production, until now. She had never sampled or made the small runs that PM required for its production. After a lot of convincing and trial & error, Robyn we think fell for the ‘PM Vision’. She has now worked extremely closely with Pera for 2 years with hopefully plenty more to come.
Robyn’s role is PM’s main sample machinist and helps with production management where needed. She also helps on the technical side of design, offering advice and knowledge on fits and the technicalities of designs. Robyn operates out of her home in Glenfield and often works in-house at the PM studio when required, she’s so awesome - we love Robo, her hugs of encouragement and her unique humour!
LILY LIU
Sample and Production Machinist
Lily has worked in the garment industry most of her life. The knowledge she has gained from a life-long career is invaluable. She kindly and patiently shares her knowledge and expertise when it comes to the sampling process. Lily works from her home studio in Greenhithe, Auckland. She works part-time as a sample machinist for a handful of designers. Due to PM runs being so small at this early stage, Lily does both sampling and production. We love Lily because she is so very patient and helpful to our lil PM fam, not to mention she is an exquisite machinist, very talented!
LEON AKA MING FASHION
Sample and Production Machinist
Leon has been running Ming Fashion since 2005. He has a small team of 7 machinists that he outsources to around Auckland. His company does sampling and small production runs. Leon always greets us with a beautiful smile and is so very accommodating. A sweet soul, who will go out of his way to assist, we love working with Ming Fashion and appreciate their wonderful work, just as much as they “love working on the garments!”
MICHELE AKA NOTCH
Pattern Maker
Michele is one of PM’s pattern makers - and an amazing one at that! She started out her career in the UK many years ago where she first learnt to grade before getting into the art of pattern making. She has worked with many well-recognised designers over the years. She’s had an amazing journey with a lifetime of knowledge that she’s always so open to sharing and supporting the PM team in anyway she can.
Michele works from her home studio in West Auckland. We love Michele because she is meticulous in her approach and offers so much advice with her extensive industry/life knowledge. Thank goodness for Michele, the journey would not have been the same without her helping hand the whole way through. We look forward to bringing her even crazier designs!
CLAUDIA PELLIZZARO
Pattern Maker
Claudia is originally from Italy and has been in NZ for 20 + years. She has worked for major fashion houses back in Italy as well as owning her own menswear label in New Zealand.
Pera was introduced to Claudia by Alan who recently retired but graded and cut the first PM collection. An amazingly supportive, educational and wise industry expert who was invaluable to Pera at the beginning of her career. Introducing the PM team to Claudia was the second best thing he could have done!
Claudia’s skills are a crucial element in PM’s pattern making processes, she really just gets us! She now works out of her home in Stanmore Bay, North Auckland or will work in-house at the PM studio when required. When times are hectic, pre-launch you’ll find Claudia, Robyn and Pera at the studio running around like mad flies, they live for the problem-solving, copious amounts of caffeine/herbal tea and laughter is never scarce!
RACHEL & ALISON at YKK ZIPS
Zips and Fastenings
YKK is where we source all of our zips from. At PM we have a habit of doing things at the very last minute…we all have our strengths and weaknesses hehe - a work in progress! Rachel and Alison are ALWAYS able to get the zips made in time! YKK makes most of their products in South Auckland, New Zealand. Rarer zips and fastenings need to be made by YKK in China so we try to avoid creating unusual zips where possible!
PM CREATORS!
Below is a little insight into the New Zealand companies and industry experts who are an enormous part of bringing your garments to life.
GARMENT TRANSPARENCY
PERA MAY generates a world within the conceptual vision of each collection. The attention to detail and execution that ignites each story is significant.
If we can take you on a magical journey visually, then we endeavour to do the same technically.
To find out more about the origins of each PM garment from our current ‘AD BREAK’ collection - click below, we think you’ll be surprised as to how many hands it takes to create one single garment!
