TDN Weekend

meet demand for her unique head- pieces. "I do have an air mattress at home that I've brought down here from time to time. I've had to!" Winter says, laughing. Her focus right now may be on creating pieces for her loyal rac- ing clientele, but Winter is no one- trick pony. Her custom creations make regular cameos in the pages of local and international glossies, with the country's top stylists com- missioning couture pieces for their high fashion editorials. "If Nerida weren't around, I don't know where, as a fashion director, you could go, except overseas to get anything like her designs," ad- mits JONES Magazine fashion di- rector Thelma McQuillan, who has collaborated with Winter for the best part of two decades. "She's just so creative." The stylist calls to mind an edito- rial the pair worked on for Harper's Bazaar starring Australian model Shanina Shaik, who donned a num- ber of Winter's couture pieces. "You can give her a story brief or send a few references and she'll come back with a million great ideas," McQuillan says. "Outside her racewear hats she has so much more scope, but de- mand isn't really there for avant garde pieces in Australia. She would have so much to offer in Eu- rope. A flick through Winter's archives also reveals a client base of royal- ty, music superstars, supermodels and heiresses. Her association with luxury watch brand Longines saw her design a hat for visiting Indian superstar Aishwarya Rai for last year's Queen Elizabeth Stakes Day, and she has also fashioned headpieces for the likes of Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark, Kate Upton, Coco Rocha and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. While many successful fashion creatives rely on a partner to han- 65

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