03 Magazine: March 31, 2023

“It gets people out
of the slums, out of
prostitution, we take
them in and train
them up in sewing and
pattern making… We
hopefully provide a
future for them and the
next generation.”
Travel has also influenced her design style, as people dress
completely differently living in New Zealand compared to
European fashion weeks or travelling – as Marielle did a lot of
before her return to New Zealand.
“I lived out of carry-on luggage for months on end. You just
wanted a good piece of quality clothing that’s versatile and
you can wear it day after day. That shifted my perspective as a
designer, and my design aesthetic.”
Creating good quality pieces that “still look amazing” but
can be thrown in a bag and don’t need to be steamed or
ironed is important to her. Clothes that can be worn to the
office, getting the children from school or going out for dinner.
“That they do all those jobs is really important.”
Once Marielle designs the garments, the designs are sent to
ReCreate’s sewing centre in Cambodia to be made.
“It gets people out of the slums, out of prostitution, we
take them in and train them up in sewing and pattern making.
Also they’ve never been to school so they can’t read or write
so we provide that. More than that we provide them with
the whole package. We help them secure mortgages to buy a
home and help them with savings and make sure the kids go
to school and university. To really turn things around for them.
“We hopefully provide a future for them and the
next generation.”
The team in Cambodia makes the samples, and prior to
Covid lockdowns Marielle would travel over to develop
collections and do training. Unable to travel there in recent
years they have been sending photographs of the pieces and
Marielle draws over the top indicating any changes and sends
them back.
“We’re still making sure they have all the skills possible. To
have the skill is such an asset for them.”
ReCreate’s garments don’t follow fashion trends.
“We really focus on timeless pieces, that will be really
good investments for your wardrobe, that will not go out of
fashion – they’re still relevant in five, ten, twenty years’ time.”
They are made from organic cottons with a neutral colour
palette. They don’t use a big range of fabrics to ensure what
they do use meets their standards.
“It’s not just helping the one community that makes our
garments, we don’t want to help one and neglect another.
Across the board we want a really soft footprint and really
look after the farmers that grow our cotton.”
Another priority is ensuring nothing from their garments
goes into landfill, which has meant forgoing zips.
“We’re closing our loop, we’re fully circular which means
at the very end of the lifetime of our garments the fabrics
get shredded and woven into new textiles.”
So when Marielle is designing the garments she needs to
take that into consideration.