Zara is a Kerikeri-based designer with a background in fashion design, having worked both in New Zealand and in London. Fashion was her first creative outlet—an expression that allowed her to uplift people and help them feel like their best selves. These days, her creativity takes many forms, from developing prints and surface patterns to the occasional project in illustration, branding, or craft.
She enjoys dabbling across mediums—gouache painting, pottery, bone carving, even building giant flowers—but what unites her practice is a love of turning ideas into something real. For Zara, making is a kind of superpower: the ability to pluck something from imagination and bring it into the world. That transformation, from vision to tangible creation, still feels like magic.
Zara and her husband also own Max Coffee, a specialty roaster here in Kerikeri
zara.parmenter@gmail.com
@maxcoffee_nz
For her Kaleo collaboration, Zara took inspiration from Kerikeri’s title as the “citrus capital.” The print brings together bold slices of oranges, lemons and limes with fragrant blossoms, twisting leaves, and subtle koru-like curves. Its layered detail captures both abundance and movement—like the feeling of wandering through an orchard alive with colour, scent, and growth. With its mix of vibrancy and flow, the design is a fresh take on citrus, crafted to carry a sense of energy and confidence for anyone who wears it.
