Basquesse

"Viviana Pannell, designer and director, was born and raised in Lima, Peru, a second generation Peruvian from her father’s side to a family of European immigrants from the French Basque region.  And to this day Basquesse is a tribute to those origins.  Inspiration for the collections comes from Viviana’s dreams, nature, poems, memories, music and books.   Motivated by a desire to promote joie-de-vivre, Viviana seeks to create beauty expressed through garments which become objects of desire for women.

Today, Basquesse is a high end women’s wear design house and retailer based in Wellington, New Zealand. Formed in 2001 Basquesse produces both prêt-a-porter ranges, made to order garments and bespoke couture - including bridal, red carpet and black tie. Daring styling and use of colour and texture, superb finishing and line are its signature.  Unsurprisingly, Basquesse has been dubbed by fashion connoisseurs as New Zealand’s fashion response to Europe, truly different, exquisitely tailored and decadently chic.  This socially responsible brand makes a huge effort to produce garments using ecologically-friendly processes. Basquesse garments are made from imported boutique mill fabrics using non-toxic dyes wherever possible.  Touted by the Dominion Post as “Trend setting, bold, architectural, flattering and wearable, Basquesse has a strong and undeniable European influence…” -  this is a label to watch!