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STYLE | promotion 19<br />
When and why did you take<br />
the plunge?<br />
When their youngest, Olive, turned 4 Kirsty<br />
began working full time in fashion retail again<br />
but found herself feeling she’d ‘been there,<br />
done that’. Scott could see she wasn’t fulfilled<br />
and kept coming home from work saying:<br />
“why don’t you open your own place?” He<br />
became the driving force at finding the right<br />
retail space and built the fitout, while Kirsty<br />
started contacting agents for labels she felt<br />
were missing from the Christchurch market<br />
like Zhrill, Cult of Individual and men’s brand<br />
Garcia. “Things moved really quickly once<br />
we decided to move and in six months we<br />
were open in the BNZ Centre,” says Kirsty.<br />
“Choosing the city was a huge gamble but<br />
Scott and I have always been risk takers,<br />
love the atmosphere of a CBD and saw a<br />
movement back from malls to inner city<br />
boutiques.” Trade proved good enough<br />
for Scott to quit building and join Death by<br />
Denim full time just before Christmas 2017.<br />
DEATH<br />
by denim<br />
What has been your journey to open your own store?<br />
Kirsty Malcolm’s passion for denim started at 17 working front counter at<br />
Just Jeans in Queen St, Auckland. Back then, training was paramount and<br />
Kirsty learned all there was to know about weave, button vs zip, cuts and<br />
what style suits who while working her way up to management in a career<br />
that took her to Australia, to Nelson and eventually to Christchurch where<br />
she supported all six Just Jeans stores. Along the way she married Scott<br />
Malcolm, a builder, returning to Nelson with him to begin their family.<br />
The Christchurch earthquakes drew them south once more.<br />
What was the market opportunity<br />
you saw for Death by Denim?<br />
Quite simply denim to die for, hence the<br />
business name coined by the Malcolms’ eldest<br />
Ezekiel. “Denim has no age and the beauty of<br />
what we’re doing is selling across generations,<br />
so Mum and daughter can come in and both<br />
walk out looking hot. Or Dad,” says Kirsty.<br />
Pair that with “ridiculously comfortable”<br />
ranges like Vigorella that will fit sizes 6 to<br />
18 and exceptional customer service and<br />
the word of mouth business (check out<br />
their grateful Facebook posts) keeps coming<br />
through the door.<br />
What do you feel has been your<br />
strongest selling point?<br />
“I probably know fitting better than I know<br />
my own children,” jokes Kirsty, who believes<br />
that shopping truly is retail therapy and<br />
loves making her customers feel good about<br />
themselves. She thinks the motivational<br />
speaker gene has passed down from Dad,<br />
Billy Graham. “And Scott is the most<br />
hospitable man I know. When customers<br />
come in he treats them as if he’s welcoming<br />
them into our lounge room.”<br />
What’s ahead in <strong>2018</strong>?<br />
Regulars can look forward to more sneaky<br />
champagnes on weekends and Kirsty’s fun<br />
videos like ‘how to lift your bum’. She also<br />
plans more events to give people personal<br />
styling advice.
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