Hello & welcome to our first blog. For our inaugural entry we thought we would like to talk about ourselves; not something any of us are comfortable with, but necessary as an introduction to our team and as an insight as to where we come from & how we came to be your local clothing specialists.

Firstly, Nemo, why Nemo? This is an old Latin verb that describes nomadic movement; and, as we like to keep updating and moving forward ‘Nemo’ seems to capture the essence of who we are.

My name is Trudy Munro. I started this business just before the Millennium from humble beginnings in Arrowtown. My background has mostly been in fashion and clothing, from film to retail stores and collaborative design. Some things are just in our bones, and making people look good in beautiful clothing seems to be in mine.

I am very fortunate to have in the workroom with me two very talented women. Firstly Elizabeth Boyle; Elizabeth initially studied Clothing, Textile and Theatre Studies at Otago University before heading to Wellington where she then learnt Costume Construction at Toi Whakaari (New Zealand Drama School).

When Elizabeth was just four years old she discovered that one of her Nana’s dolls was so much smaller than the others that no clothes fit the poor wee soul properly. So, little Elizabeth set out to make an outfit for the ‘Poor Wee Soul’, this is the first outfit Elizabeth can recall making, though it was made of paper, cardboard and tape we think its still pretty clever for a wee four year old! The below photo is the small doll named Poor Wee Soul, unfortunately the paper clothes have long since disappeared but the little knickers still remain such is the long-lasting handy work of four year old Liz!

A Southland girl, Elizabeth recalls pulling together fabric scraps and odds and ends from the family dress-up box to create outfits with her sister and cousins. Today, she still loves figuring out how things can be put together, likening garment construction to doing puzzles; Elizabeth is our resident problem solver when it comes to resolving tricky repairs and alterations.

In April 2016, Elizabeth will have been with Nemo for six years; we are lucky to have her talent and quiet, easygoing nature in the workroom.

A more recent addition to the team is Kristen McBride, such an appropriate name for a wedding dress creator of exceptional quality. Kristen was sewing with us several years back and moved back in 2014 after managing bridal workrooms in Christchurch.

Kristen’s early love of dress making led to her beginning industry studies at a young age; while still in high school she studied Proficiency in Dressmaking at Southland Polytechnic. Later she completed a Certificate in Clothing and Fashion Design at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

Kristen’s passion lies in creating someone’s vision from an idea or picture through the pattern making process and having it come to life in the final garment. For Kristen, there is a real satisfaction in drafting a pattern and it all coming together as originally planned, this has been a talent of hers from a very young age.

Below is a photo of little Kristen wearing an outfit she had made herself; at just nine years old she borrowed an old pattern-drafting book from the school library and made the waistcoat, pattern and all. Kristen also made the skirt from scratch, this time sans pattern. An absolute natural pattern maker and seamstress!

Together our team has a vast array of knowledge and experience; through our collective skill set we have garnered a variety of work and praise from our local community as well as our national and international clients.

We are passionate about our work and pride ourselves on our ability to interpret client designs and budgets into a final product that satisfies all.