How Paris Georgia Became a Go-To Label for Contemporary Power Dressers
Broadsheet – March, 2023
Paris Mitchell Temple and Georgia Cherrie’s namesake fashion label has undergone several evolutions since they founded it in 2015.
At first, the duo worked from their homes and created Paris Georgia Basics with just six wardrobe essentials, including suits and slip dresses. Since then, they have dropped the “Basics”, acquired a loyal fanbase of wearers (including many of the world’s most well-known women), opened a second office in London and brought on their first investor – New Zealand venture capitalist group Maker Partners.
Clearly, Paris Georgia’s founders have been succeeding in achieving their vision. “We want to make women look as powerful as they feel,” Cherrie tells Broadsheet.
The label garnered buzz from the get-go, and was featured early on in the pages of international magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue. Inprint, a magazine founded by the current editor of Vogue India, Megha Kapoor, featured a Pierre Toussaint shot of Hailey Bieber wearing one of their slip dresses on the toilet, underwear around her ankles.
The shot went viral at the time, and Bieber is still seen regularly in the label. In recent years, its wearers have also included actor-activist Kerry Washington, in the label’s Remmy dress for her Time cover story; model Paloma Elsesser, who stepped out in New York late last year in the 05 bodysuit and Draped skirt; and Lady Gaga, who wore Paris Georgia’s Francis suit to mark the 10-year anniversary of her Born This Way foundation in 2022.
Originally, the clothes were made to complement a vintage e-commerce platform, The Mercantile, which the pair had also launched in 2015. With their designs channelling the ’90s minimalism revival so popular at the time, stockists across New Zealand and Australia quickly picked up the label. This included Simon James in Auckland (now the label’s exclusive Aotearoa bricks-and-mortar retailer), My Chameleon, The Dreslyn and Desordre.
One of their early customers was New York designer and influential retailer Maryam Nassir Zadeh (her label is known as MNZ), who reached out asking the founders to showcase a full collection in her showroom. It was “a dream come true,” says Cherrie. They created 28 pieces in two months, which required many late nights and weekends, given they were both still working full-time jobs at that stage – Cherrie at Vice magazine and Mitchell Temple freelance styling.
Nassir Zadeh’s representation added credibility to the young label, and connected it with other global stockists. “We were picked up by 10 stockists the first season, mostly US-based, which was a strong start for a small collection,” says Cherrie.
At New York Fashion Week in 2019, they had one of their most memorable pinch-me moments. Model Kendall Jenner got papped two streets over from where they were holding buyer appointments at the MNZ showroom wearing the Paris Georgia Heart singlet and Bootleg trousers. “It was a moment that helped propel our brand to an international stage,” says Cherrie, with international fashion press from France to Britain to Hong Kong sharing the images.
Aesthetically, Paris Georgia’s streamlined styles have also evolved over the years, with new signatures adding a greater sense of individuality. Many of the current mainline pieces are artistic and even a little avant-garde, often with unexpected and interesting touches. There are ruched skirts that fall to the floor, asymmetric necklines and sleeves, dresses with figure-skimming cut-outs, and macrame-style net garments strung with multi-coloured glass beads.
“While there will always be elements of signature designs re-imagined and referenced, design development is at the forefront for [our] growing label,” says Mitchell Temple. “We try and design with a diverse range of bodies in mind, and we’ve also extended our size bracket [it now runs from XXS to XL]. We want to do more in this space.”
Cherrie says they use luxurious fabrics they know will “sculpt and flatter” the body, and they do lots of wear testing – both on themselves and their fit model. “We find this is so important, as you often don’t know the true fit or feel of a garment until you’ve worn it yourself. It’s important to us that our customers feel comfortable in our clothes as well as confident and beautiful.”
Thanks to this emphasis on empowerment through clothing, the duo attracts a community of cool, self-assured women. This “Paris Georgia effect” played out in real time when the brand hosted an event late last year at The Waverly Inn in New York with Helena Christensen, Lorde and Vogue’s Gabriella Karefa-Johnson. Timed with the launch of Collection 06, currently in stock, it was a reminder to take a moment to celebrate how far they have come.
Both Mitchell Temple and Cherrie were inspired to go into business by their ultimate role models: their entrepreneurial mothers. Mitchell Temple’s mother runs Verve magazine, and Cherrie’s mother owned an advertising agency.
When they were younger, Mitchell Temple and Cherrie lived in the same apartment complex in Auckland and attended the same local high school, including a shared fashion class. The pair puts their success down to their friendship and dynamic. “We have a complementary skill set, and completely trust each other,” says Cherrie. “We both share the same vision.” While Mitchell Temple has a higher level of attention to detail, Cherrie has more of a head for numbers and business strategy, they say.
The business was able to support both founders full-time three years after launching, and so they went all-in – and haven’t looked back. “It felt right,” says Cherrie. “We had just always prioritised the business’s revenue to fund growth and pay the bills, so it was a definitive moment being able to make this shift.”
Now, the Paris Georgia team has grown to 10 full-timers including a production manager, workroom staff, wholesale manager, bookkeeper and CFO. “We got so used to doing everything ourselves for so long, but we now have a team we can trust and rely on, which has been such a reward,” Mitchell Temple says. “They’ve contributed to a lot of our success.”
While HQ remains in Auckland, where Mitchell Temple continues to drive the brand’s design, Cherrie moved to London in 2022 where she focuses on business development and marketing. “We’re currently in an office that we share with a local stylist. It’s an old warehouse conversion with lots of brick and glass windows.”
The move was partly spurred on by the pandemic – when the founders felt the need to maintain meaningful contact with customers and clients worldwide. Another way Paris Georgia has connected with customers is through dedicated online sales – rather than having too many bricks-and-mortar stockists – especially for its annual Elemental essentials line, which just released its 04 collection this week. This direct model also helps the range remain, mostly, made in New Zealand, at a more affordable price point.
A creative focus for this year is to bring attention back to Paris Georgia’s mainline collections. Following the traditional fashion calendar, they will be released over the four seasons – both online and through special retail partners. For Collection 06 this includes Ssense in Canada, Browns in London, H Lorenzo in Los Angeles, David Jones in Australia and Simon James in New Zealand.
Where have they set their sights next? “We want to see Paris Georgia develop into a household name globally.”
Additional reporting by Giulia Brugliera.