My Heels Are Killing Me

New Zealand's foremost fashion podcast where Sonia Sly goes behind the scenes of the fashion industry to find out what exists beyond its glamorous façade.

Hosted by Sonia Sly

An illustration of a young woman with dark hair. She's wearing a dark dress and is in the centre of the artwork with a light pink background colour. A few abstract shapes in different colours surround her. The title "My Heels are Killing Me" is placed in front and has a yellow background.

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From the runway to the great outdoors

Season 3 / Episode 1
Headhunted to work for Tom Ford's eponymous label just as it was getting off the ground was like watching history in the making, according to designer Quentin Hart who worked with Ford for 3 years until he decided to break away from the fashion bubble he was living in. Today, he couldn't be happier as the designer for iconic Kiwi brand Swanndri, transitioning from the high fashion runway to designing for the great outdoors.
Quentin Hart, designer for Swanndri NZ

Creating a career in the Big Apple

Season 3 / Episode 2
When Jonathan Thai moved from New Zealand to New York to get his dance career moving, he never would have imagined that be styling editorial shoots for Vogue and working with the cream of the international fashion industry, producing shows for designers at New York Fashion. Sonia Sly finds out what it was like to work with Winona Ryder and working on a show that sent a stream of models topple over on the runway.
Jonathan has worked across NYFW including this Fall 13 collection for Proenza Schouler.

Making the modern gentleman

Season 3 / Episode 3
What does it take to make the modern gentleman? With a love of art and design New Zealand menswear label, French 83, provides a twist on classic suiting for the young professional. Add a dash of our good old Kiwi lifestyle and they've got a great brand story that works for their international clientele. Sonia Sly meets the team to find out why they took an unconventional approach to their business model by launching in Beijing, before breaking into the New Zealand marketplace.
Making the modern gentleman.

Young visionaries and the future of fashion

Season 3 / Episode 4
If you want to know what the future of fashion looks like it pays to keep an eye on emerging designers who create without boundaries. Sonia Sly meets emerging designers from around the world to find out what their vision for the future of fashion looks like and what concerns them most.
Wellington designers Kristen Maeclem and Olivia Balle.

A Fashionable Ambition

Season 3 / Episode 4
Caitlan Mitchell is the editor for one of the longest running industry magazines in the country. She speaks to Sonia Sly about ambition, modelling, fashion photography and the relevance of print in the digital age.
Caitlan Mitchell photographed for Black Magazine.

Prop styling in New York

Season 3 / Episode 5
New York-based Kiwi Rachel Stickley knows all about styling props. When she's on the job her art tools are at the ready and she could be doing anything from sourcing furniture to melting lipsticks and being covered in paint.
Rachel Stickley

Karen Walker: The changing tide of fashion

Season 3 / Episode 7
What does it take to run a global brand and continue to grow a business in a cluttered market? Karen Walker talks about the changing tides of fashion, the global marketplace and sleepless nights in an industry that has no off-switch.
Karen Walker 2017

Stolen Girlfriends Club: Beyond the rock n' roll facade

Season 3 / Episode 8
Being in the fashion industry is like trying to stay in control of a car that's about to veer off the road, according to Marc Moore the founder of Kiwi label Stolen Girlfriend's Club. Marc speaks candidly about the brand's rock n' roll edge and experiencing failure and success in a high pressure industry.
Dan Gosling, Marc Moore and Luke Harwood

Fashion's front-row dramas

Season 3 / Episode 9
Murray Bevan, founder of fashion PR agency Showroom 22, on what happens when the claws come out at New Zealand Fashion Week, working with Karen Walker and facing a female-dominated industry 15 years ago.
There are rules to the front row fashion game

Changing the game

Season 3 / Episode 10
What are the game-changers for fashion buyers and influencers? And why is Instagram booming in Asia? Sonia Sly chats to David Jones buying manager Teneille Ferguson and influencers Mary Seng and David Wong.
Teneille Ferguson is the womenswear buying manager for David Jones

Bridalwear chilled to perfection

Season 3 / Episode 11
Trish Peng is a designer who creates show-stopping wedding gowns. At last year's NZ Fashion Week her 25-metre long train broke a world record and this year she created a dress that had to be kept in the chiller.
Designer Trish Peng is always up for a challenge

'Everything has to be unmistakably NOM*d'

Season 3 / Episode 12
NOM*d founder Margi Robertson talks about her iconic 30-year-old brand, the one thing she would save in a fire and why summer is a season that never feels quite right.
Margi Robertson built Nom*D on a signature look.

Working Style part of a 'perfect storm'

Season 3 / Episode 13
A rising interest in menswear is a global trend and New Zealand label Working Style have experienced the ebbs and flows of what it means to be in the suit game. Sonia Sly heads to Auckland to meet founder Chris Dobbs and Creative Director Karl Clausen.
Working Style SS17/18

Kathryn Wilson lets her shoes do the talking

Season 3 / Episode 14
Designer Kathryn Wilson has thoroughly tread the boards of the Kiwi footwear industry. She talks to Sonia Sly about her naïve passion launching a label 15 years ago, how bumps in the road serve as milestones and... moon boots.
Kathryn Wilson says she launched her brand with naive passion

Bridging the gap on fur in fashion

Season 3 / Episode 15
Fur is controversial in the fashion industry and wearing it today is a statement of nothing more than excess. The controversy lies not only in the hands of the designers producing it, but also those who are buying garments made from fur. Dunedin-based Jane Avery is an unashamed advocate of fur. She understands the controversy but says doing it sustainably and ethically is what matters most.
Fur was worn as a sign of wealth and status

Fashion's inclusive new mood

Season 3 / Episode 15
Fashion is often a signal of a change in the air, reflecting societal norms and values. On RNZ podcast My Heels Are Killing Me Sonia Sly meets designer Jason Lingard who says being gay and growing up in a small farming town informed his desire to create gender-neutral garments that embody the concept of inclusivity.
Jason Lingard creates garments that are inclusive of age, size and gender

Defusing fashion's ticking time bomb

Season 3 / Episode 17
Today there are a multitude of pressures placed on designers in the fashion industry as consumers increasingly demand transparency in the manufacturing process. But there are many ways to approach ethical and sustainable production as Sonia Sly finds out when she speaks to designer, Rachel Mills and Miss Crabb founder Kristine Crabb.
Miss Crabb campaign

Dan Roberts: Capturing a mood in street style

Season 3 / Episode 18
The international fashion week circuit has become more like a circus than ever before. In this episode of My heels are killing me Sonia Sly chats to a Kiwi street-style photographer who shares the ins and outs of what it takes to shoot for the best in the business.
Dan Roberts has an eye for candid street style

A new eclecticism

Season 3 / Episode 19
New Zealand's design landscape is starting to reflect our multiculturalism. Four designers discuss how their cultural heritage inspires and challenges them and why being 'different' is an asset.
Lookbook image from Chido Dimairo collection

Allbirds - The right amount of nothing

Season 3 / Episode 20
Former World Cup soccer player Tim Brown on finding the right amount of nothing in an overcrowded market and why launching his sustainable footwear label, Allbirds wouldn't have been made possible in New Zealand.
Allbirds pare things back with a limited colourway