Margi Robertson
by Metropol | September 16, 2026 8:35 am
Designer and creative director Margi Robertson has been as influential in her almost 50 years of fashion as she has for the future of it. Shaping the next generation as much as she’s defined Dunedin’s sartorial landscape, she chats with Metropol editor Nina Tucker.
Walls draped in the work of cult fashion labels – Comme des Garçons, Rick Owens, Dries van Noten – two PLUME stores on Dunedin’s George Street and Christchurch’s High Street are each an ecosystem of conceptual style. Equally experimental, equally enduring. At their centre, an enthralling figure dressed in all black – one of New Zealand fashion’s best minds – who extends clothing and collections as “portals to a profound inner landscape or a shield against the world.” Her name is Margi Robertson, founder, designer and creative director of label NOM*d and high-end multi-brand retailer PLUME.
“We never wish to be seen as mainstream,” Margi says. “It is about giving the wearer the confidence to be individual and happy with their appearance, knowing that they are a little left of centre and not part of the pack.” Inspired by Dunedin’s gothic beguile, NOM*d has shaped the dress code of its home for 40 years.
Margi’s path pointed towards the industry from childhood, her mother an accomplished seamstress. “Mum was sewing for us for as long as I can remember. Even at primary school, we were encouraged to participate in the fabric choices (she had a huge trunk where she stored remnants she had purchased from Penroses) and we chose patterns which we could either trace out of Burda magazines or using Butterick or Vogue patterns.
She encouraged us to customise those patterns, so I guess reworking classics has always been in my vision.”
In the late sixties, Margi’s sister Elisabeth (and co-founder of Zambesi) moved to Auckland and began working in fabric houses and fashion. She opened her own retail stores just after Margi and husband Chris opened their first store in 1975, Hang Ups Boutique in Dunedin’s Moray Place.They went on to open PLUME in George Street in 1978. Elisabeth’s Zambesi is, too, one of Aotearoa’s most iconic and enduring labels. Together, they make New Zealand’s most accomplished sisters in fashion. Despite living on opposite sides of Aotearoa, the pair communicate constantly.
Fashion fifty years on
Almost 50 years later, Margi retains an incredibly loyal customer base or “fanclub” who appreciate her taste and distinct aesthetic. Similarly to many of the designers she stocks, Margi’s approach is grounded in conceptuality. In fashion, those tactics are constructivism, vintage and reappropriation, multiple-possibility garments, bricolage, street-wear conventions, the androgynous bulky body, an anti-consumer aesthetic in a consumer environment, self-consciousness and reflexivity. Conceptual designers like Margi turn clothes into cultural commentary, prioritise storytelling and reject trends.
“Our customers are very discerning and quickly realise we are not trend based, the clothes are lifetime purchases or they can be handed down to the next generation,” Margi says. “I love seeing old NOM*d styles that some of our younger team members love buying from recycled stores, it fits with their budgets and it is an entry level into the brand.”
Drawn to vintage clothing from a young age, Margi holds close to her many items obtained from years of collecting. “We have extensive archives of both original and reworked pieces. We often go back into our own archives and re-create the last creation in a new way.” PLUME collections require the same distinctive DNA, and must be easily worn in this environment.
Margi also stocks designers who have worked under her before launching their own labels, like Dunedin’s Sara Munro from Company of Strangers. (Margi is known for her investment in the next generation through NOM*d, and longtime involvement in iD Dunedin Fashion Week which showcases some of the world’s top emerging fashion designers. “They are the future,” she says.)
At New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) in August (a considerable challenge without a retail store in Auckland), Margi’s team showed looks from international collections stocked in Dunedin and Christchurch alongside the new NOM*d collection Superstars. “Pre-show I was a little nervous about the many changes we had committed to however the backstage team and the models did an amazing job. Post-show we were all on a high, the models all looked and felt incredible, the vibe was so buzzy.”
Like the format of NZFW, much of the way designers present collections has changed over time. “We’ve gone from a wholesale presentation to our retailers to a retail see-now buy-now situation. We strive to be individual in our approach to both design and style when showing our collections. We like our audience to leave knowing that they will remember the experience and the atmosphere for many years to come.”
While shielded from tough times thanks to the following she’s built, the economy’s impact on the wider industry influences the way Margi works when designing a collection. “These days, we have to start with the fabric as the industry is so small. It’s no use making toiles out of fabric that is not obtainable,” she explains. “We are enjoying working on our digital prints right now, which gives us our very own fabrications and colours each season, so we are not so dependent on what the fabric wholesalers offer us.” (Margi tells me that every garment is put through a wash cycle before going into store so the customer can be sure it’s not going to change once they wear and care for it.)
In the same way her design process is not templative but organic and experimental, Margi’s almost half a century defining New Zealand fashion comes just as naturally. And when I ask what life looks like beyond it, Margi answers “My life is fashion” (she does enjoy travelling and experiencing new cultures, though they are tagged on to Paris Fashion Week buying trips). Luckily for us, her influence is here to stay.
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QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS
Your favourite place in Dunedin to unwind?
Walking our dog through the Town Belt and enjoying the nature around us.
The most influential designer in your work?
Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons. Since travelling to Japan in the late 80s, I have watched how her empire has grown and the proteges she has supported. The development of this brand has escalated to such a level now that she can show her collections as art rather than see-now buy-now runways. I don’t aspire to be her but I am so inspired by her devotion to her values.
Which emerging local designer(s) do you see having great potential?
Julia Palm of JPalm is the latest designer we stock at PLUME. Her garments have been so well received, she has the tick from our customers as well as our staff!
Best advice you’ve ever received?
Learn to walk before you run.
What makes you smile most?
Hearing what our granddaughter has been up to lately. At 23, she is visiting new countries and is so independent, very proud of her accomplishments!
Pets? If so, who are they and what do you love about them?
We have Ziggy, our greyhound. We adopted her three years ago. She is the queen in our household. Greyhounds are the most gentle, easy dogs to have around. They are more like a cat in the muscle bound body of a racehorse.
What do you wear on a day spent at home?
Stencilled t-shirt or sweatshirt and elastic waist Rick Owens pants.
The moment that sticks in your mind as being the most special in your career?
Showing the 39 year retrospective of NOM*d at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 2025. It was amazing to see the styles from our archives presented and mixed uniquely and appreciated by our customers. Many of the garments they still owned or still wear. So many people spoke to me in appreciation of the garments they still had in their wardrobes.
What cause is most important to you?
I wish these wars that are going on right now could be sorted. Ukraine and Russia and Palestine and Israel, I feel it’s more about the leaders of these countries’ dominance, and no care for the loss of life of ordinary people that has incurred as a result.
The best compliment to receive?
When someone says ‘I love your stuff’.
Your favourite piece of clothing you own?
I do love my stencilled t-shirts, I can easily wear them with any of my other garments, whether its NOM*d or Comme des Garçons or Ann Demeulemeester.
Your most-read book and most-played song?
I’ve never re-read any book, but Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides I’ve recommended to many of my friends. I love the story of the family having to leave Turkey and ending up in Chicago, the Greek culture and the lives of all the children. My most played song would be Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me Till the End of Love. It’s so wistful and meaningful, I love all of his words and music.
If you could raid one person’s wardrobe, who would it be?
My own but many of the garments don’t fit me anymore!
If you weren’t a designer, what would you be?
A consumer.
What trend would you like to see disappear forever?
Lip gloss.
Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/margi-robertson/