Nina Stuart-Manning

“I have always been so fascinated by the little things you see on an everyday basis that normally people would pass as being a fault, or unappealing, for example rust. When I saw my colour I immediately associated it with rust.

In my eyes I find rust quite beautiful, it’s a natural piece of art that paints itself, and the artist is nature, it’s amazing to see things age like this, just like human beings, with experiences, relationships we grow and change, just like metal, with age and life going on around it, it begins to add character and bleeds into this amazing masterpiece with all different hues of orange and red. As a kid, I always thought rust was painters pouring their leftover paint in random corners of the streets, walls and down random alleyways and I was always so confused why it was orangey colours, I would tell myself it was because maybe artists didn’t use orange enough so always had leftovers to dispose. Since then, I’ve always just associated it with art.

The design brief for ‘Colour of Fashion’ this year was finding your inspiration in nature. I thought about rust, as just as the name of my colour Resene Kombucha, rust is natural and forms with time. Kombucha is also a natural organism that forms into a gut-friendly bacteria with time and all by itself.

With my design choice, I wanted to represent rust with texture. I’ve done this by leaving the seams exposed and distressed, to portray the ‘destructiveness’ of rust. I wanted long sleeves that hang low to also give the ‘droopy’ effect rust has when it runs due to rain. I wanted my garment to really stand out, just how rust stands out on a plain wall, so I’ve exaggerated features – big bow ties, larger sleeves and a tall, large collar. I wanted my jackets to be very structured and fitting, for whoever is wearing it to feel hugged and secure. Have you ever tried to scrub rust off something? I wanted to give that same impression, to be stuck, in the nicest way possible.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2022

Photography by Jonathan Kraettli

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