There is something in the New Zealand light that cannot be borrowed.
Shot across the still waters and granite spine of Queenstown, Of This Ground is a meditation on what happens when fashion stops performing and starts belonging – to a place, to a people, to a particular and irreplaceable landscape.
Styled by FNZ Power List alum Estelle Schuler and photographed by Lynsey Garfinkle, the editorial leans heavily into homegrown talent – Kowtow, Sylvester, Deadly Ponies, Karen Walker, Stolen Girlfriends Club, Wynn Hamlyn, and Beach Brains all feature across the seven looks.
It is a deliberate choice, and it shows. The result is a wardrobe that feels less assembled than grown – layered textures that reference earth and bark and stone, silhouettes that hold their shape against open sky, tones pulled directly from tussock and schist and winter water. These are brands that have long understood the landscape they come from, and here that understanding is made visible.
Model Renée Wilkins carries the story through environments that shift from mirror-flat lakes to raw mountain ridgelines – landscapes that demand a certain honesty from everything placed within them. The clothes meet that demand. And then there are the gumboots. Schuler brought a pair from The Warehouse to protect the loaned shoes between shots – practical, unglamorous, entirely unplanned. On camera, they were something else entirely. It is that kind of instinct, the ability to find the image where no one was looking for it, that separates a good shoot from a great one.
Of This Ground is ultimately a portrait of Aotearoa itself – its scale, its stillness, its refusal to be anything other than exactly what it is. The fashion follows suit.
Credits: Photographer ~ Lynsey Garfinkle, Model ~ Renée Wilkins, Stylist ~ Estelle Schuler
Outfit Credits
Outfit One: Sylvester dress, Stylist’s own gumboots
Outfit Two :Kowtow hood scarf, Sylvester knit, That Looks shorts, Stylist’s own tights, Deadly Ponies sandals
Outfit Three: Levi’s parka, Stolen Girlfriends Club pants, Karen Walker shirt, Stylist’s own gumboots, Deadly Ponies bag, Prada sunglasses
Outfit Four: Kowtow scarf, Kowtow knit, Wynn Hamlyn skirt, Stylist’s own gumboots
Outfit Five: Sylvester jacket, RM Williams knit polo, Wynn Hamlyn skirt, RM Williams boots
Outfit Six: Twenty-Seven Names coat, Twenty-Seven Names shirt, Beach Brains shorts, Bared Footwear boots
Outfit Seven: Karen Walker jacket, Stylist’s own shorts, RM Williams boots
