Hi. I’m Sophie. I have been working in fashion for ten years now. I started with a small shop in Cuba Street underneath the globe café, which was run by the rock church and was a rent-free space, which was great. In twelve months my business built up and I moved into my current Wellington store, which I’ve been in for nine years

I’ve always wanted to make clothes. Ever since I was nine, I made clothes for myself and even my Barbie Dolls. I did Fashion Design at Wellington Polytechnic. When I was fresh out of Polytech and the opportunity arose to start my own business, I took it.

My designs often have quite a vintage feeling, with a subtle Asian influence and a strong focus on fabrics. I use beautiful, colourful fabrics that have interesting prints, embroideries and embellishments, cut into simple, feminine shapes. The fabric offsets the simplicity of the designs.

I also specialize in bridal wear. My typical ‘bride’ is someone who wants a ‘fashionable’ rather than a ‘traditional’ wedding dress, for a vineyard, garden or beach wedding. With the wedding dresses I focus on beautiful fabrics. I try to incorporate colour and interesting embroidery. This sets our dresses apart from most wedding dresses that are made from the standard plain white fabric.

The staff at Voon are very good at building relationships with customers. Trina, in our Raumati store, is the type of person who makes friends very easily. Everybody loves her. Trina is the main reason we opened the store in Raumati. She loves Kapiti because of the relaxed feeling. Trina says "it’s like she’s on holiday all the time". Trina has been working for me for about eight years and has become a very close friend. She’s full of energy and absolutely brilliant at what she does.

When people buy from us I think they enjoy knowing that the people behind the label; that make and sell the clothes really care about what they do.