...Sara Smeath's fabulous new line of shoes and bags intriguingly named Lost Not Lonely that is. The clever Northland native is putting a background as the inaugural winner of the Air New Zealand and Karen Walker “Inspiring New Zealanders scholarship” award, and months travelling the world in a 'lost, but not lonely' state, to good use. Her first range is a collection of refreshing and suitably adventurous designs that utilise a mixture of high quality soft leathers and on the bags, solid metal chains.
The range is titled "lower Valley Locals' in reference to the 50 year-old family trucking business which Sara and her business partner, brother Darren Smeath, grew up within. "Dust, diesel, and dirty trucks are not the the ideal backdrop for creating imaginative, rousing designs" she suggests but we beg to differ. Darren, who has a background in management in Brisbane and is an industrial chemist by trade sees a big future for the label both in Aotearoa and Australia where the company intends to do plenty of business. We eagerly await the development of a brand, the first-up quality of which will be lost on few...
