Zimmermann had espionage in mind at NY Fashion Week

Advertisement

Advertise with us

NEW YORK - Perhaps in another life, Nicky Zimmermann would have been a spy, an extremely chic one.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/02/2019 (2729 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK – Perhaps in another life, Nicky Zimmermann would have been a spy, an extremely chic one.

The Australian designer had espionage on her mind for fall Monday at the New York Fashion Week show of her Zimmerman label.

In luxe trench coats made of buttery leather, hooded anoraks and bomber jackets in shades of sand, ocra and mahogany, Zimmerman reimagined the adventures of Nancy Wake, the World War II spy known as the White Mouse. Wake grew up in Australia, stealthily worked in Europe and later helped lead the French Resistance, earning that moniker because she was so hard to catch.

Fashion from the Zimmermann Fall 2019 show is modeled during Fashion Week, Monday, Feb. 11, 2019 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Fashion from the Zimmermann Fall 2019 show is modeled during Fashion Week, Monday, Feb. 11, 2019 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

It was Wake’s strength and resilience that stuck with Zimmerman, who used military touches in utility pockets, belted waists and jodhpurs.

The Zimmermann girl is worthy in terms of her strength, but she’s not above a softer rose print in a bell-sleeved blouse, lace dresses and stripe gowns that evoke lingerie. She likes ruffles on her shoulders and lycra heels on her boots. And she can’t resist a good mohair sweater in animal print, black and buff adorned with oversize bows.

There were lots of bows this season on the Zimmerman runway. There was also an abundance of exaggerated sleeves, corsetry and billowing dresses and skirts.

“The idea is we’re mixing the femininity with the masculinity,” Zimmermann told The Associated Press backstage after the show. “We wanted to really get in there with the outerwear and mix it with our very feminine dresses and see what happened.”

What already HAS happened is the Sydney-based company has amassed a healthy following of famous women: Beyonce and Kendall Jenner included. Then there’s Kate Middleton, and the Kate Middleton factor.

The Duchess of Cambridge wore Zimmermann’s demure white laser cut Romer Day Dress on the royal couple’s much-photographed tour of Australia in 2014. It was a big boost for a company that began 27 years ago as a stall in Sydney’s Paddington Market.

Zimmerman is grateful for all her customers, including the high-profile ones.

“A lot of celebrities just go into our stores and we don’t even know what they come out

with,” she smiled. “It’s very flattering.”

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

‘Good deal of synergy’ brewing in South Osborne

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

‘Good deal of synergy’ brewing in South Osborne

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Pub crawls could become the next South Osborne draw.

At least, that’s the hope of entrepreneurs in the area as three breweries build out locations in the Winnipeg neighbourhood.

Nonsuch Brewing Co. and Good Neighbour Brewing Co. have opened storefronts along the strip in the past three months. Dastardly Villain is creating a taproom and nanobrewery.

“I’m really excited to have these pubs and taprooms,” said Ben Shantz, board chair of the South Osborne Business Improvement Zone.

Read
Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Kreviazuk, in her own voice

Eva Wasney 7 minute read Preview

Kreviazuk, in her own voice

Eva Wasney 7 minute read Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Chantal Kreviazuk is in the midst of a very busy year.

In May, the Winnipeg-born singer-songwriter released her 11th studio album, In My Own Voice — a project that reclaims and reimagines a selection of hit songs she’s written for some of the world’s biggest artists.

The 12-track album features Kreviazuk performing ethereal covers of Pitbull’s Feel This Moment, Drake’s Over My Dead Body and Gwen Stefani’s Rich Girl, among others.

But she didn’t stop there.

Read
Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Culture minister’s pledge sends officials on hunt for money to fix Islamic centre after apparent hate crime

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Preview

Culture minister’s pledge sends officials on hunt for money to fix Islamic centre after apparent hate crime

Carol Sanders 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Government officials were left scrambling Friday to explain why the province is paying for repairs at a mosque recently targeted in a potential hate crime after a $1 million security enhancement fund was fully allocated in June.

Read
Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Fatigue no excuse for Bombers’ dismal play

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Fatigue no excuse for Bombers’ dismal play

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Visiting teams used to fear playing at Princess Auto Stadium.

At one time, it wasn’t a question of whether the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would win at home — it was a question of by how much.

From 2017 to 2025, the Blue and Gold posted a dominant 54-14 record in front of the team’s diehard fans.

Those days, however, are firmly in the rearview mirror.

Read
Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Winnipeg police ticketed a man accused of leaving his dog locked in his vehicle in a grocery store parking lot during the intense heat earlier this week, then attacking bystanders who were concerned about the animal’s welfare.

It’s not uncommon for city police to be contacted about pets left locked in cars during heat waves, but typically those calls don’t escalate to the extent of the incident Wednesday afternoon, said Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy.

“It definitely comes up every time we have heat events in the city, we do get concerned citizens calling about pets being left in vehicles, even for a short period of time,” said Chancy.

“Typically, what will happen is that the owner or the caretaker of the pet will present themselves to police and proper, appropriate advice is given about the care of these animals — this is definitely an extreme case.”

As wildfire season rages, new book explores the frontlines of battling Canadian blazes

Reviewed by GC Cabana-Coldwell 4 minute read Preview

As wildfire season rages, new book explores the frontlines of battling Canadian blazes

Reviewed by GC Cabana-Coldwell 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:02 AM CDT

Mother Nature’s talking but we haven’t been listening, according to Jesse Winter, author of Wild Fire: Dispatches from a Country Ablaze, a book, released earlier this summer detailing Canada’s wildfire woes.

Currently, almost 1,000 wildfires across Northwestern Ontario, British Columbia, the Prairies, Northwest Territories and eastern provinces are burning in Canada. Forest fires also continue to wreak havoc in France, Spain and other European countries, and in the U.S. states of Oregon, California, Florida and Texas. While 2023 still rates as the world’s worst wildfire season, 2026 is hot on its heels.

Winter, a Vancouver-based, award-winning climate disaster photojournalist, spent more than two years on Wild Fire, his first book. In-depth research included working with firefighting crews and environmentalists as well as talking to researchers, politicians and evacuees. He says we need to rethink our views on wildfires or be prepared to watch more land go up in flames.

Canada, Winter writes, is “a country almost perfectly designed to burn.” At least 70 per cent of boreal forests, which cover one-third of the country, are stuffed with highly flammable spruce, fir, pine and tamarack trees as well as aspen, poplar and birch. With a wealth of available fuel, it’s no surprise, he writes, that an area twice the size of Vancouver Island burns every summer in Canada.

Read
Yesterday at 2:02 AM CDT