Meet Jimmy D, the experimental New Zealand label creating genderless, deconstructed pieces
IMAGE VIA JIMMY D
WORDS BY DEANA STEPANIAN
“I love knowing that pieces of mine will outlive me and be properly archived.”
Based in Wellington, the creative capital of New Zealand, James Dobson is the designer behind the androgynous fashion label known as Jimmy D. Initially delving into fashion through studying photography, James discovered he was “more interested in the clothes themselves than in capturing them”.
Distinctively dark and unconventional, Jimmy D plays with oversized silhouettes and colour to create streetwear staples, dresses and printed mesh pieces. Jimmy D’s recent collection was inspired by the iconic underground New York nightclub, The Mudd Club, and reimagined what it might look like today.
For more fashion news, shoots, articles and features, head to our Fashion section.
Below, James shares more about how he started his label, what it’s like having pieces he designed acquired by New Zealand’s national museum and who he’s got his eye on in the local fashion scene.
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
View this post on Instagram
I came to fashion through photography. I vividly remember discovering a New Zealand fashion magazine called Pavement at my local bookstore in suburban Upper Hutt where I grew up. The magazine had images of models with braces on, hanging out in suburban-looking garages. It was the first time I remember seeing fashion in a way that was relatable, and I remember it making me feel like fashion was a world I could be part of.
Originally, I thought I wanted to be a fashion photographer. But, towards the end of my photography degree, I realised that I was more interested in the clothes themselves than in capturing them. I finished my degree and worked in menswear retail in London for a year, working with labels like Margiela and Comme des Garcons, and then came back to New Zealand to start my own label.
How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and the challenges.
View this post on Instagram
I was working in retail in Auckland while I started my label, and I was pretty shameless [in] asking the designers we stocked for names of pattern makers and machinists. I started cutting out samples on the floor of my flat, and before I knew it, I had a small collection of around 15 pieces. And luckily, the store I worked for liked what I was doing, and they became my first stockist.
I entered a competition called The Mercedes Start-Up Award and won, and part of my prize was to show at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week in the New Generation section, and it all just kind of took off from there…
What were you trying to achieve from the project at the time?
View this post on Instagram
I just was super into streetwear shapes, but reconfiguring or recontextualising them by making them in silk georgette or messing with the proportions. It was all about hoodies, but with ridiculously long hoods, or singlets with straps that were super long and wrapped around the shoulders multiple times.
We had printed tees that we mixed with silk skirts that we sanded down the edges of, so they looked kind of ravaged or mauled. One of our first printed tees [read], ‘It’s hard to be avant-garde’ and I still stand by this slogan today.
How has this evolved, and what are you trying to communicate through the brand now?
View this post on Instagram
I think I still design in a very similar way. I think the label still has a dark sense of humour, even if we’re a little more colourful these days. And when I’m concepting out a collection, I still like to throw together opposing ideas… to try to create something that (hopefully) hasn’t been done before. I’ve also always thought you could take streetwear staples like a hoodie or tee and riff on them endlessly by playing with their proportions, fabrications, twisting them, inverting them etc!
Where did the name come from?
View this post on Instagram
I was working on a shoot while studying, and I made these shoes from curtain rings that the photographer loved and wanted to use for another shoot. He said, “I’ll credit you, I’ll say the shoes are made by James Dobson” and I was like, “Eww no, that sounds lame’” and then he said, “Okay, I’ll say they’re made by Jimmy D” and in my head at the time that sounded like some bearded trucker, and I loved the idea of that person being behind crazy experimental women’s shoes, so the name stuck.
How would you describe your label to someone who’s never seen it before?
View this post on Instagram
Genderless with a dark sense of humour and a mix of streetwear shapes mixed with luxe ’90s slip dresses and printed meshes.
What are you most proud of in your work on your brand?
There are SO many moments I’m proud of, but I think having numerous looks over the years acquired by our national museum Te Papa Tongarewa is pretty buzzy. I love knowing that pieces of mine will outlive me and be properly archived, and will be part of a conversation around New Zealand fashion at some point.
What do you wish you’d known when you started?
I wish I’d had a business mentor from the very beginning because making money out of fashion is HARD.
Who is most exciting in the Australian/New Zealand fashion scene right now?
I love my Pōneke fashion friends JPalm and Samuel Mark Clyma and Jess from [the] Wellington store Bizarre Bazaar is super sexy and has a great eye. I love the styling work and uncompromising aesthetic of Australian stylist Kurt Johnson.
View this post on Instagram
And I have a little side hustle with my friend Andrey called Beauty Benders, which is all about degendering beauty and having fun with makeup. We popped off on TikTok with some of our own looks, and Instagram is more of a mood board of looks we love.
What about the Australian/New Zealand fashion scene needs to change?
We need to support smaller independent brands that aren’t bankrolled by their parents. Let’s all take a few more risks and ditch the snore fest that is most mainstream fashion.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
[At] jimmy.co.nz or one of our amazing stockists throughout New Zealand and Australia.
To explore Jimmy D’s designs, head here.
Liked this? You’ll love these...
