Style Mavens

We sat down with the forces behind three of Aotearoa’s best-loved fashion brands (Saben’s Roanne Jacobson, Blak’s Teresa Hodges and Rebecca (Beks) Anderson of Chaos & Harmony) for a chat about empowering women, the beauty of life in the Bay, and the brands coming together at the Blakchaos boutique. And we mark a very big birthday...

When did each of you launch your brands, and what got you going?

Teresa We launched Blak Basics back in 2007 after identifying a huge gap in the boutique market. Customers had a choice in high-end dressy clothes, but not a lot for everyday luxury staples in their wardrobe. Basics quickly expanded to all of the brands under the Blak umbrella you see now — Luxe, Love, Basics, and more recently Bridesmaids — to cover our customers’ needs and allow the brand
to continue to grow.

Roanne 2002. I was living in New York at the time, working in bars, saving my tips and living the classic ‘struggling artist’ life. With the little money I did have, I would save to buy myself something extra special. That something was always a bag. I became somewhat of a connoisseur (a bag lady,
if you will) and as much as I loved them, there was always something amiss. They were beautiful but weren’t big enough for daily use. Or they had all the bells and whistles to hold the chaos of my life but I couldn’t take them from work, to dinner and drinks. That’s when the lightbulb moment happened.

Beks Chaos & Harmony was founded in 2008 after a year of studying footwear and accessory
design in Italy —the first collection was 2009. I was super passionate about creating shoes with a design focus. At the time, the market was limited in styles that I wanted to wear, and great designs that I knew other women would also love.

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How would you describe your brand, and what sets it apart?

Teresa Blak was created to give women confidence, with styles that make them feel their best
and allow their personality to stand out. We focus on timeless pieces that feel effortless. Our aim
is to uplift women and it’s so humbling to see the confidence in someone’s face when they find
that perfect outfit. We chose the name Blak to reference that little black dress in your wardrobe
that you always rely on to make you feel amazing for every occasion.

Roanne Saben is the new best friend you didn’t know you needed. A Saben piece is one that empowers women — something of a talisman to give women the confidence and preparedness
to take on her day.

Beks Chaos & Harmony shoes are distinct in design and comfort. We love creating effortless
designs that add to a woman’s style or the look she wants to create.

Tell us about the opening of the Mt Maunganui boutique, Blakchaos?

Teresa Blakchaos opened in 2013. Beks and I had become friends a few years earlier, and after starting our own businesses had often caught up to share advice and insights into growing our companies. Out of this, the idea of our collaborative store evolved. We could see the vision of
women stepping into the store and it feeling like a place of sanctuary. We saw it as a place where
we could also collaborate with like-minded luxury brands such as Saben, to offer women the best
of the best. We love that our customers can come to us for a complete outfit for a special event
or their everyday lives.

How did the relationship between Blakchaos and Saben come about?

Roanne We’ve always loved the Mount and we had a stockist who was shutting their business
at exactly the same time Blakchaos was opening. We first fell in love with their product and their
fit out, and when we met Beks and Teresa, we understood their personal and business values
aligned with ours as well.

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Beks Saben came on early in the piece. We knew it was a well-recognised brand with classic
styles that would work with what we were doing at Blakchaos. We like the idea of brands being
both stand-alone and complementary.

What do you admire about and identify with in the other two brands?

Teresa Women taking on the world!! Chaos & Harmony and Saben both have incredible leaders creating absolutely beautiful pieces. All three of us believe in uplifting women and bringing out
their inner confidence, which is so important to me.

Roanne Blak and Chaos & Harmony stand by our same core values, that is, beautiful functional product delivered with outstanding customer service.

Beks Both Teresa and Roanne have an ease about them that flows through to their brands.
Their focus on customers and creating a beautiful experience is something we identify with.
They are also both hard-working women that pursue their dream despite the circumstances
they face, which is admirable, especially in our small New Zealand market.

Beks and Teresa, what do you love about living in the Mount?

Teresa I love that I can own a creative, successful business and still live somewhere quiet and beautiful. My children bike to school five minutes down the road, and we’re so close to the beach.
The Bay of Plenty is also an easy access point to many parts of New Zealand. Mt Maunganui is a
little hub of successful creative businesses; it’s such a supportive environment.

Beks There’s a freedom we experience here in Mt Maunganui. Many of our employees have kids,
so the lifestyle that the beach brings for our families gives us the energy and inspiration to continue
to create the future. It’s a great place to pull you back to reality, to be present and not be consumed with the world around you.

And what’s it like running a business (or two!) from the region?

Beks Initially, when we began our business, it felt as though it was a disadvantage to be in the Bay, especially as a fashion brand. However, as time has gone on, and especially given the last two and
a half years, we are more grateful than ever to have our business positioned here. The majority of our business is e-commerce so we can offer an amazing experience regardless of where we are located.

‍Teresa To be honest, it was never that hard to be regional, and with the new world of Zoom and digital communication, it’s become even easier. Auckland is quite close and it’s always nice for
a change of scenery and to be in touch with the city. It’s also important for me to spend time in
our shop there, to keep understanding our customer base.

Roanne, congrats on 20 years in the biz! How does it feel to reach that milestone?

It’s surreal, weird, incredible… I keep having moments of ‘did I really do all this?!’ I’ll remember
a moment in time, like an anniversary or one of my boys’ birthdays, and remember the bag I was wearing or the collection I was designing at the time and all the memories hit me with the feels.

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What were some of the highlights and challenges along the way?

Twenty years of business has made me very aware that every day brings highlights or challenges, and in the best case scenario, both. Everything worth having is worth fighting for.

What was the first bag you designed?

It was a belt bag that you could wear around your hips or across your body, and was made of industrial weight sail cloth, so I needed a sail maker to produce the sample for me. Things only
got serious when I moved away from working with CMT (cut, make, trim) outworkers and found
a manufacturer so I could build ranges rather than one-off designs. However, it’s taken years of
life experience to finesse our designs so that beauty and functionality maintain equal importance.

Do you spend much time in the Bay of Plenty?

We visit at least once a year — there’s something about the Bay, especially in summer, that
makes you feel like you’re overseas. Driving through Paeroa, having a look around “just one”
antique shop, ooh-ing and aah-ing as we drive through the gorge… When the boys were younger
we spent time in Ōpōtiki and driving across the bay towards East Cape. We’ll often visit the Mount
(if you visit the Mount and don’t walk up, are you even in the Mount?!) and Rice Rice Baby is our
go-to place for dinner.

blak.co.nz blakchaos.com
saben.co.nz chaosandharmonyshoes.com