Wear New Zealand’s designs are original and copyrighted. All production processes are undertaken in New Zealand. Wear New Zealand has an ongoing commitment to product development, and prides itself on its innovative approach. Every style is painstakingly formulated to ensure the highest standards of quality and fit. This has resulted in large expenditure of time and resources.

For this reason, Wear New Zealand has and will continue to pursue legal recourse on any individual/organisation deliberately plagiarising its designs or concepts.

The Wall Street Journal Online

The problem with eco-fur? It's still fur
Report by Christina Binkley

The fur comes from the brushtail possum, a marsupial native to Australia that has become a forest-destroying invasive species in New Zealand. Fur marketers argue that buying furs made from the possums they kill actually benefits the environment.
Click here to read the full article.

The Independent Newspaper

Alien Invasion: How the Possum became public enemy no 1
Report by Kathy Marks

They are protected in their native Australia. But despite their cute looks, these marsupial invaders have become such a menace to the environment in New Zealand that designers who use their fur are seen as national heroes, even by conservationists. Click here to read the full article.

The Times Online

Is it acceptable to buy Possum fur?
By Anna Shepherd

Considered a pest, there are 18 times as many possums as people in New Zealand. They threaten its native trees and wildlife by munching through vegetation. So much so that anything made from possum is dubbed eco-fur. “Buy a possum and save a forest” is the slogan of one [brand], Possum New Zealand.
Click here to read the full article.

Ms Possum - Designer/Director of Wear New Zealand - is a complex character. In fact, she wasn’t always known by this pseudonym.

So, how did it come about?

Many years ago, in suburban Auckland, Ms Possum’s beauty sleep was interrupted, by one of our furry friends, launching itself through an open window. The subsequent hissing and thrashing was matched only by Ms Possum’s hysteria – but it was during this pandemonium that an idea was born…

In the ensuing years, Ms Possum happily moved on to other areas of the fashion industry (haute couture, bridal and leatherwear) without giving much thought to the little marsupials.

However, that was all about to change.

A series of unfortunate roadside incidents led Ms Possum to believe that she was being persecuted, and that she would need a more proactive approach to handling the 70 million or so Possums in New Zealand. Thus the metamorphosis to Ms Possum began.

Over time it became obvious that the satisfaction derived from stretching and preparing the hides, was incredibly therapeutic. Her ‘Possum revenge syndrome’ has begun to abate – although sadly there is no known cure for this psychological condition.

We’d love to hear your Possum stories. If you write to Ms Possum, she’ll publish them online, and send you a possy pressie!