Head of Design and Sales at Kathryn Wilson, one of New Zealand's leading designer footwear brands, Julia Ford let us in on a day in her, and her french bull dog - Sydney's, busy week-day life! 

5:30AM

Roll out of bed, and start my morning routine of meditation, writing a few pages, updating my schedule and hydrating with some warm water and coffee.

6:30AM

I head down to Sweat Yoga on Morgan Street. I’m still fairly new to yoga, I started just before lock down but I’m addicted! I go every morning that my schedule allows. There’s no better way to start the morning, completely warmed to the core and with a clear mind, ready for the day!

7:30AM

I head home and prep myself and Sydney (my elderly French bulldog) for our day, pick out our outfits, coffee, heels on, out the door.

9:00 AM

I arrive at the office and start working through the inbox…I look after all of our lovely retailers from around the country so I’m checking in with them, co-ordinating their requests and orders and generally making sure all is well. It’s such an interesting time in retail at the moment but thankfully most stores are having a great season!

11:00AM

At the moment I’m planning our Summer 2020 campaign shoot with Stephen Tilley which is super fun! Brainstorming concepts, making mood boards for styling, make up references for Lancome, hair concepts for D&M, booking models, sourcing props etc. I’m feeling a retro tennis vibe for this season’s crisp sporty collection. I’m already envisioning how I might create a lilac tennis court…

1:00PM

Lunch is usually tofu donburi or a veggie concoction of my own making … Sydney’s likely to snap up the last third of whatever I’m having.

2:00PM

Our production houses are generally all waking up and starting work around this time so the email and WeChat communication starts now and runs through into the evening. We’ve just submitted the designs for Winter 2021 to our 5 production houses which means we are busy finalising all of our leather swatches, signing off heel shapes and selecting trims for the ranges. Usually we would do a lot of this in person but with the current travel restrictions we are working a lot more on our phones and using photos and videos. There’s nothing more satisfying than when the samples start arriving though, and you can see your sketches come to life!

6:00PM

Home time.

7:00PM

One of the best things that came out of lockdown for our household was cooking dinner together. I was doing most of the cooking beforehand but I’m loving the time to hang out in the kitchen with my husband Matt, chat about our days and make a delicious plant-based meal together. I’m usually doing some covert seasoning of his cooking while his back is turned but hey, it’s a team effort!

8:00 PM

I have so many creative interests outside of work hours, so this is when I find time for these… Playing guitar, pattern-making or sewing garments for my online store, designing textile prints or my latest obsession is ‘thrift flipping’ - taking old garments I don’t wear anymore or pieces I’ve purchased from vintage stores and deconstructing and re-designing them.

2-8 Osborne Street | kathrynwilson.com

@kwfootwear