Karen Walker (designer)

Karen Walker
Walker in 2017
BornDecember 1969 (age 55)
New Zealand
EducationEpsom Girls' Grammar School
Labels
  • Living with Cannibals and Other Adventures,
  • Dough and Dynamite,
  • Liberal and Miserable,
  • Karen in TV Land, Queenie Was a Dog,
  • Victory Garden,
  • Karen to the Rescue,
  • Young, Willing and Eager[1]

Karen Elizabeth Walker CNZM (born December 1969) is a noted New Zealand fashion designer.

Private life

Walker was born in December 1969.[2] She grew up in the Auckland suburb of Remuera and attended Epsom Girls' Grammar School.[3] Aged 21, she married Mikhail Gherman.[4]

Career

Walker began her fashion label in 1987, and opened her first store in Newmarket, Auckland, in 1995.[5] She began selling to Barneys New York in 1998, the same year she showed her first runway collection. In late 2011, she signed a partnership with United States-based retail chain Anthropologie.[6]

She has designed clothes worn by Björk, Sienna Miller, Natalie Portman, M.I.A., Alexa Chung, Beth Ditto, Michael Haneke, Liv Tyler, Rihanna, Claire Danes, Zooey Deschanel and Jennifer Lopez.[7][8] She designed clothes worn by Kate Winslet in the Michel Gondry film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.[8]

In the 2004 New Year Honours, Walker was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the fashion industry.[9] She was promoted to Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to fashion design, in the 2014 New Year Honours.[10] In 2009 Walker received a World Class New Zealand Award [11] in the Creative category.

Walker is also an expert on colour for interiors and has partnered with Resene to produce her own line of paint colours.[12]

Walker was appointed to the board of Creative New Zealand in December 2024.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Karen Walker | Fashion Designer Biography". FAMOUS FASHION DESIGNERS.
  2. ^ Catherall, Sarah (14 September 2019). "Karen Walker: 'When marriage works it really works'". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  3. ^ Hewitson, Michele (14 June 2007). "Genius at work - Karen Walker". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Trailblazers: Karen Walker". The New Zealand Herald. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  5. ^ Ryan, Holly (10 August 2015). "Karen Walker: 'Listen to that little guy in your head'". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  6. ^ "Karen Walker hits the US, put homewares into Myer". Fashion Source. Melbourne. 19 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
  7. ^ "As Worn By". Karen Walker.
  8. ^ a b "Kelly Osbourne Wows MTV Wearing Karen Walker". Scoop. 5 June 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  9. ^ "New Year honours list 2004". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  10. ^ "New Year honours list 2014". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  11. ^ "World Class New Zealand 2009 Winners". Archived from the original on 25 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Designer Karen Walker shows how colour transforms a room". Stuff. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Karen Walker and Keven Mealamu join CNZ Board | Beehive.govt.nz". www.beehive.govt.nz. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
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