Deborah smith worked at Real Time on Ponsonby Rd when she first met Marilyn Sainty in the 1980s. Their creative collaboration began when Marilyn approached Deborah to photograph her garments for her in the early '90s, which started a long-time working relationship, lasting right up until Marilyn Sainty retired the label in 2005. 

This coat, made of brown glazed linen, was from the first of many collections sporting Deborah's photographs, from 1998. This range followed on from earlier works of Marilyn's with printed squares applique'd to garments inspired by a trip to a Mark Rothko exhibition in Paris. This format lended itself seamlessly to this collaboration featuring black and white photos printed onto 100% cotton, and applied to a range of garments, including outerwear, shirts, and T-Shirts over the course of many years to follow.

This creative collaboration was not limited to this application however, and Deborah's imagery for the Marilyn Sainty label continued on into lookbooks, print advertising for Marilyn's boutique Scotties, and print media for the exhibition Dust Cloaks in the Hawkes Bay in 2000.

Deborah's photographic practise was ahead of its time, and while originally hesitant to call herself a fashion photographer, shooting women who were not always professional models in atypical locations and creating ethereal yet down-to-earth images paved the way for successive New Zealand fashion photographers working into the 21st century. 

The NZFM photographed this garment at our Popup photography session in October 2024 which was part of our Hui Auaha o Aotearoa Open Day, see the full conversation between Marilyn Sainty, Deborah Smith, and Cerys Davidson which took place at this event below.