Is this what the Likes-obsessed fashion world of today desperately needed? 

“Bold but only for the gaze of those invited.” 
–  In conversation with emerging slow-fashion designer Rory William Docherty.

Named after its founder, Rory William Docherty (RWD) is a New Zealand based gender inclusive slow-fashion label, focusing on timeless design and product longevity. Every product is unique, down to the placement of the print. Prints that are based on the brand’s designer’s original artworks. But for Rory Docherty original paintings serve more purpose than just a design choice – they constitute as the foundation, the heart of the label. Not only brand identity but every collection revolves around original sketches, watercolor paintings, pastel work etc. 
    As the son of an art-teacher, Rory Docherty grew up in a farming community in the Manawatū, New Zealand surrounded by art and nature. After studying fashion design at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand, the then 20-year-old moved to London to work for the likes of Prada and Yohji Yamamoto. With extensive experience and knowledge of the fashion industry, the internationally presenting artist and designer eventually realized his long-time dream and launched his own luxury clothing label in 2017. 
    Subject of today’s editorial, RWD’s latest collection IDENTITY (AW26) explores “notions of people, place and provenance” (Source: official collection notes). The collection fuses artisanal identities of New Zealand and the British Isles, specifically Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, in design and material. Rory Docherty collaborated with hand-knitters from India and Harris Tweed in Scotland, among others. Garments include louche tailored shirts and suits, earthy colorful silk blouses in chevron pattern design, and oversized coats with dramatic shoulders. One defining element of IDENTITY to me are the almost warlike-looking silhouettes and cuts, appearing to protect the wearer from hostile environments. This motif can be encountered throughout the entire lookbook, but it is most prominent in looks 2 and 3, and 22 featuring an angular cocoon-like wrap coat. 
   With no further ado let us jump right into Visual Tales' conversation with your number one slow-fashion designer to watch: Rory Docherty.

Friedrich Mueller: Good evening Mr. Docherty, and thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us today. I cannot wait to ask you some of the questions we have prepared.

First, what do you think was the convincing factor that led you to found Rory William Docherty? Can you tell us about the beginnings of your brand? 
Rory Docherty: I had worked for other brands, and manufacturers, across departments at various levels. I had met some brilliant people, and learnt extensively about what goes on behind the scenes, to the sides, and out front. Then at some point I realised, I was no longer fulfilling my creative desires. So I began drawing and painting again, just for my own enjoyment, no purpose other than the process. In fact, the intention was to take me away from fashion, to focus on what was in front of me, my pencil and paper. Yet inevitably an artwork became a textile print, then an embroidery, the shapes exploded into paper maquettes and then enlarged into life size sculptures and refined into garments. I was creating pieces to test myself, see what I could do without commercial constraints, without a brand identity to adhere to, or a customer to satisfy, just creating for creations sake. When 2 years of doing that in my spare time past, I had a selection of pieces. With the help of friends’ photographer Tim White and Hair and Make Up artist Virginia Carde, we shot the collection, on a young Becky Skirrow.
    I wanted to create something personal and new, but still beautiful, unapologetically so, relatable but not of the moment, like a lingering dream. I felt I was finding my voice as a designer and I wanted to explore that further. I was nervous to share what I had done, because it was a far cry from what I had been employed to do elsewhere. I put on a small exhibition and invited the local industry, colleagues, friends, family. Encouragement was wonderfully reassuring, and I felt, as though what I had inside me was beginning to be seen. 

FM: What makes Docherty Docherty? 
RD: Me, or the clothes? I wonder if there’s a commonality there? I’m a romantic, and generous. Self-sufficient and practical, but very affectionate. I cherish loved ones, as well as the things I love. I can be social, enjoy getting dressed up and special occasions, yet find solace in the calm quiet. I’m not cool, and have no interest in fads. I can be very contemplative, serious, then silly and laugh at myself. I’m a creative, but pragmatic.
Maybe the same can be said for the pieces I create? I sit answering these questions at home with a peppermint tea, wearing full RWD in comfort, as I do every day.  I live in my clothes. 

FM: What do you wish people to find in your work? 
RD: Joy, comfort, ease, reassurance and affirmation. A sense that the clothes mirror their inner creativity and reflect that back into the world, as part of their identity. 

FM: While researching for this interview I read that every of RWD’s collection starts with an original painting made by yourself. Can you elaborate how this idea arose and then became a part of the making of a new collection? 
RD: It became habit, how I work, and it works for me. By the time I’ve finished creating, presenting, selling, collating orders, and have to start on production, I’m seeking a respite. It’s then that I draw, paint, make little sculptures. I’m allowing myself to create from a very personal place. 
    Consciously and unconsciously reflecting on how I’m feeling and exploring what’s shaping that and why. How that transpires into clothing is a process I try to remain open to, and then, I question, is this relevant, does this serve a purpose, offer a solution, is it desirable and functional.  

FM: How does the versatility of your products – e.g. age and gender neutrality – fit into the overall theme of the brand? 
RD: It’s at the core. Our customers are very diverse: 18 year olds to 80 year olds; women, men, non-binary and transgender, from various ethnic backgrounds.
    The commonality, what makes them modern and timeless is they all possess self-confidence, often quietly and inwardly. They have an appreciation of craftmanship and quality, and a love of creativity. I believe my clothes allow them to express their individuality and creativity. 
I’ve had the privilege of dressing people for their most special moments. Being able to bring joy into someone’s life through my work, and seeing how transformative, uplifting and empowering it can be is so fulfilling.
    I strive to create seasonless pieces that solve a need, empower, comfort, elevate, solutions for the weekend, work, and the evening, with a spirit of independence.

FM: Can you tell me about dimension in your work? What role do width and volume play to the design language of RWD? 
RD: Scale, proportion and volume are all very important. I’m short and I’m used to clothing having an enveloping feeling. That sense of a soft hug, of a warm breeze beneath your shirt, that room for air, movement and freedom puts me at ease. I want to share that with others. 
    There is a balance, and that can play out in different ways and shapes with a collection, a look or single garment. Sometimes a narrower fit feels right, a cropped length.  

FM: Talk to me about love. When I take in your garments I see a creator’s love for the human senses, a love for the touch of the natural and a love for the colours of the world; but I also sense an expression of the transience of all things. These are just an observer’s humble thoughts, but I’d like to know: What does love in any sense mean to you and your work? Is it of significance?
RD: Love is why I do this. For the love of creating, The love of beauty, The love of craft, comfort, ease, function, expression... This is an act of self-love, this is what makes me happy, even though it can be incredibly tough, and other paths far more lucrative, financially stable and secure, I do this for Love. 
    Yes, there is a transience, in everything. The hope is to create pieces people will love forever, but even people pass. Perhaps I’m eternally chasing the fleeting moments of joy, excitement that well up in someone when they first fall in love with an RWD piece.

FM: RWD’s strong connection to, and incorporation of, other art forms, such as painting and theatre, is one aspect that makes your brand stand out from its competition. In what way and to what extent do you think is fashion an artform itself? 
RD: If the creator is working with ‘fashion’ as the medium to their self-expression, as a painter, sculpturer, video artist might do, then one could argue those cases are an artform. However, fashion is for the most part a commodity, designed with a set of constraints in mind; a brand identity, customer, occasion, market, price point, season. It is predominantly a product designed to be worn. As a glass is designed to hold liquid and be drunk from. In this way fashion sits firmly in the design sphere. That does not mean the design cannot also be artful, or the form a work of art. 
    But, I know artists who create and have to consider similar parameters also. Knowing a work priced at X will sell Y times more than Z. Or that a particular scale works in a domestic setting or a commercial environment. 
Perhaps it’s more about process. The way the designer or artist approaches their outlet. What is their raison d'etre [reason to be]? 
Sorry, I can’t answer the question, is fashion art, directly. However, in each collection there are pieces that are more designed, and then pieces which I create without those constraints. The viewer or wearer can decide how they see them. 

FM: Let’s talk about RWD’s latest collection. The collection notes of IDENTITY AW26 read: “[…] [an] exploration into notions of people, place and provenance […]”, of the Scottish Outer Hebridean Isle of Lewis and Harris, served as the key inspiration. Apart from wool pieces developed in collaboration with local Scottish weavers, where else can we discover the island in the collection? 
RD: The biting winds off the sea and the rounded forms of the original buildings on the Outer Hebridean Isle of Lewis and Harris further reinforced my feeling for enveloping oneself, blanket like, pulled over the head and cocooned from the elements. 
    The colours were strongly influenced by the landscape. Rich brown and pale ochre of peat moorland with vibrant shades of purple heather, the grey-blue Lewisian Gneiss rocky outcrops with white sandy beaches and iridescent green dancing sea foam.
    The original artwork I created was an expanded interpretation of the herringbone Harris Tweed, created in oil pastels. This appears in a variety of fabrics and scales. Miniature on silk georgette through to the large, quilted silk velvet pieces. I was intrigued by the herringbone pattern. A motif depicted globally by different cultures. Local and specific in its depiction, a visual touch stone of origin, yet familiar to all, everywhere. A simple symbol of individual cultural identity and simultaneously comfortingly familiar, all embracing, a cue that defies language and history, a mark of humanities shared craft. 
    It was this that inspired the cross-cultural collaboration with my partner Jordan. 

FM: On that note, one design choice that carried on from the previous season (The Tides SS26) is the use of oversized hoods, that can also be styled as e.g. snoods or cowls. I’d like to know, what prompted you to further develop hooded shapes as part of your design language? 
RD: Seeking a feeling of protection, a shrouding. Politically and socially, we are in turbulent and frightening times. The physical gesture of covering up felt instinctive. But then allowing for moments of unveiling, uncovering. The act itself almost defiant or seductive. Bold but only for the gaze of those invited. 

FM: How do you hope the fashion industry to evolve? Is that even something that you think about? Do you have a stance on its current state? 
RD: We can talk about what’s wrong, and cite the lack of inclusivity and equality, nepotism, huge environmental issues, exploitation, burnout, greenwashing, landfill, David and Goliath relationships, tariff wars…. It certainly is a difficult time. All of which deserve to be explored, discussed and shared publicly by someone far more informed in each of the problematic areas than I am.
    But I do believe if everyone in the industry and those outside working with and influencing the industry operated with Respect, that would be a great place to start. 
    Beyond that – which is enormous, I hope for global fashion that designers with a unique perspective, representing themselves, their cultural background, beliefs, sexual orientation or gender, traditional or new innovative crafts, techniques, will be fostered by their peers, the creative sector, retailers and customers. Encouraged to hone their unique offering and find an audience that appreciates it.

FM: Finally, where do you see your brand heading in the future? Are there any particular goals or targets for your brand; for yourself? 
RD: To continue collaborating creatively, building mutually respectful and beneficial relationships and partnerships. Increasing the availability of what we do in a sustainable authentic way, and improve on what we create each time.