Who’s on from New Zealand ? Good as Gold

This week, Elizabeth de La Mette, our account manager caught up with one of her compatriots, Ruben Bryant, founder of the Kiwi boutique Good as Gold. Based in Wellington, this independent shop offers a selection of international designers that we love: Chronicles of Never, Henrik Vibskov, b Store, Etudes, Karen Walker, Shakuhachi, Libertine Libertine, Soulland, Silent by Damir Doma, Wood Wood… to a community that gathers around events and exhibitions organized by Ruben and his team. Let’s go to the southern hemisphere.

EDLM : Can you tell us more about Good as Gold and the selection of designers found there?

Good As Gold is an independent retail shop and online store located in Wellington, New Zealand. We have a super helpful staff that can help out when you want to shop from over 70 of the best fashion and streetwear brands from around the globe. We opened back in 2004 and recently moved to a bigger 3 level shop space that’s is like a giant tree hut, it’s been going super well!

Here is a list of some of the brands we stock:

aiaiai, AM Eyewear, Blak Basics, Beau Coop, Brixton, Cameo, Casio, Cheap Monday, Chronicles Of Never, Colab, complexgeometriesGram, Hansel From Basel, Happy Socks, Henrik Vibskov, Herschel Bags, Incase, Karen Walker, Keep, Kokoon, Ksubi, Nick Von K, Nike, NSW, Nobody, Norse Projects, On & On, Perks & Mini, Provensen, The Quiet Life, Shakuhachi, Something Else, Soulland, Sperry Top Siders, Stolen Girlfriends Club, TBA, Thank Goodness, Tobe, Twenty Seven Names, Wood Wood, Silent by Damir Doma and many more…

EDLM : How did you hear about Le New Black and what was it that interested you to register?

RB : I can’t remember how I first found Le New Black, but I’m glad I found it. I’m always hunting for new brands for GAG and Le New Black is a great one stop shop with an amazing selection, so I didn’t need to be convinced to register.

EDLM : Fashion weeks are in full swing at the moment. Do you have a favorite? Which one do you attend to find new brands for your store?

RB : We just had New Zealand fashion week here which is always fun, it might not be as big and glamorous as NYC or Paris but we have a good time and it’s a great showcase for NZ brands. Because we are down here at the bottom of the earth it makes it very expensive and time consuming to travel to the Northern Hemisphere so we do a lot of buying from PDF look books and online showrooms like Le New Black.

EDLM : Good as Gold sells clothing, footwear and accessories but also hosts art exhibitions, so what is the next event you are organizing?

RB : Yeah we try to give a little back to the people that support us and have built a big community around the shop. We are having a day of the dead party next month with about 400 people, free Tequila, free Mexican beers, compulsory face painting at the door, karaoke and dancing all night long, plus we have our epic annual Pool Party that always gets craaaazzzy with nakedness, underwater beer drinking and inflatable’s! (It’s going into summer here now).