Kat Gee – Kagi
Like numerous small girls, Kat Gee had fun making Fimo bracelets, but the then eight-year-old went a step further. “I sold my pieces in the school playground and made a killing,” she recalls.
It was a presage of things to come. Since the talented New Zealander who is about to make her Fashion Exposed debut launched her label Kagi in 2007, it has become a favourite nationwide and is likely to enjoy similar success in Australia. An honours graduate in graphic design and a former New Zealand Design Ambassador, Kat creates fashion jewellery that brims with individuality and at times, an exotic Kiwi flavour.
Some collections, such as the new Showstopper – “really va-va-voom!” - which will have its Australian launch at Fashion Exposed, are full of dramatic colours and shapes. Others, like Kagi Classics, are pure elegance.
“I love gemstones and choose them as much for their healing properties as their beauty,” says Kat. “I also use other materials such as coral, crystal and lava rock, though I have a special affinity for freshwater pearls.”
So did her great-grandmother, who survived a Japanese POW camp in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) during World War II with just one piece from her treasured jewellery collection intact.
“She lost all her possessions apart from her pearl necklace, which she hid in her underwear,” says the designer. “I wish she’d lived long enough to see Kagi, but having that necklace in our family is very special.”