Giant Steps – Rebe Healy
New Zealand fashion designer Rebe Healy – the creative talent behind REBE – has the world at her feet. As the inaugural winner of the Giltrap Group Helping Kiwis Fly – Fashion Edition award for emerging design talent, she is as firmly footed as ever as she climbs up the next step of global fashion stardom.
It started with a Panama hat. And it started while REBE label founder, Rebe Healy, was still working fulltime in what she now considers the best training ground any future fashion designer could hope for – the world of retail.
“Retail is absolutely the best incubator to learn about the fashion business in – you can’t beat it,” she says. “To be able to learn about your customers, what they like or dislike, what sells and doesn’t sell, what fabrics prove consistently popular – it’s all there. Every shift you work can be an education.
“I was working in luxury retail with high spec brands and met many incredible career women over that time. You gain the confidence to speak to customers, and you form relationships with them. I think that’s an ethos we’ve continued with REBE; we’re very customer focused and have some very loyal customers as a result, which I’m so grateful for.
“Believe me though, if you’re serious about a career in fashion, all those weekends worked in retail will pay off!” she laughs.
Healy’s commercial acumen was furthered when she eventually became a wholesale buyer – a move that, once again, she feels proved indispensable once she established her own brand.
“Fostering an international presence can take a long time. I learnt that buyers like to see growth; they appreciate longevity. So, that has always been in my mind as the label has developed – growing step-by-step and forging strong relationships.”
These learnings became vital for Healy as REBE’s first ready-to-wear collection debuted in Copenhagen, giving her international exposure before she had even appeared in many boutiques back home. Today, REBE is sold into 15 countries in Europe.
It all seems a long way from Healy’s childhood in Hawera and Hamilton.
“Leading up to now, all through my life, I’ve been fascinated by fashion. I come from a pretty creative family – my dad’s a muso, my mum is really talented as a sewer and lately as a weaver. She was always making matching outfits, and I loved playing dress-ups when I was little. You know how they ask you at primary school, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I’d always say, ‘fashion designer’.”
With that knowledge of Healy’s early family background, it’s surprising to find her path following high school wasn’t a straight-line A-to-B into the fashion industry.
“I’ve actually got a science degree in marine biology!” she laughs. “I know it sounds a bit weird, but I love science as much as I love fashion.”
But while completing her tertiary studies in an entirely different vocation, Healy says she always felt she could get into fashion when the time was right.
“I treated it as a bit of a hobby at first, because I wasn’t in a hurry. I believed I could make clothing that people would enjoy, but I wanted to wait until I felt ready – you know, big deep breath and here we go. That’s where my first product, the Panama hat, was launched from, and I followed that up with footwear and then my first ready-to-wear collection.”
Two-and-a-half years later, REBE is ready to scale. Not one for complacency, Healy says she wants to embrace guidance and mentorship to get to the next level.
“We’re a young brand, so if you want to truly ‘go global’ you have to seek out those opportunities to help get you there.”
Timely, then, that Healy was recently announced as the inaugural winner of an award designed to provide just such a supportive platform for emerging New Zealand talent. The Giltrap Group Helping Kiwis Fly – Fashion Edition award aims to recognise a designer who is beyond the earliest stage of their career yet still represents the next wave of New Zealand fashion industry talent.
The award, announced during New Zealand Fashion Week 2025, is in line with Giltrap Group’s ongoing commitment to support both the event, as well as the next generation of Kiwi designers.
“I’m really overwhelmed to have won,” says Healy. “It’s such an amazing prize package and it all couldn’t have happened at a better time. I love what the Giltrap Group has done with this initiative – a Group known for mentoring motorsport drivers overseas, and now this is the fashion industry version of that.”
The Helping Kiwis Fly – Fashion Edition award prize is made up of contributions from Giltrap Group and New Zealand Fashion Week. Giltrap Group is investing financial support into the winning designer, along with a 12-month vehicle sponsorship provided by Škoda New Zealand. As part of her prize, Healy also has access to a Giltrap Group location to be utilised for commercial purposes, such as private showings, buyer appointments, or even short-term pop-up retail experiences.
The award also gives Healy access to meaningful mentorship opportunities, marketing and media support, and other valuable resources.
“The mentorship opportunities alone are amazing,” she continues. “Kathryn Wilson? Incredible! And she’s a fellow footwear designer, so I can’t wait to sit down with her. It’s the same with Steve Dunstan from Huffer; he’s a legend who took a New Zealand brand and made it iconic here and overseas.
“This award and the extra support from the Giltrap Group is incredibly exciting. It’s all going to make a huge difference. It not only recognises the work we’ve done so far, but it’s going to provide practical guidance and mentorship, as well as the resources to pursue new opportunities and take us to the next level.”
With its joyous reemergence during 2025, New Zealand Fashion Week as a whole has also been taken to the next level.
“Having Fashion Week back has been a significant moment, both personally for us at REBE and for the local industry,” affirms Healy. “It’s such a vital platform for Aotearoa fashion – bringing designers, and buyers, the media, and our community together to celebrate creativity. We made our debut at Fashion Week, which was a really special milestone and a valuable opportunity to share our vision with a big audience. It was also a great reminder of the incredible talent we have in Aotearoa, and how important it is to keep elevating and celebrating that.
“We need this energy. It's been a really tough time for retail. So, to have a successful event like this where we can celebrate our designers and the greater industry, it’s so good. So much has gone into it and so many people have supported it. It’s phenomenal.”
As for Healy and her partner (in both business and life), Harry, New Zealand Fashion Week 2025 proved to be “one crazy week-long show for us”, as REBE debuted its latest collection in an innovate setting.
Wanting to eschew a traditional runway show, guests were instead invited to ‘The Apartment’, 41 floors above Albert Street in downtown Auckland. Curated by Healy, the penthouse suite was styled in the manner of an art collector’s home, with every detail – be it artwork, furniture, fragrances or jewellery – designed to represent the best New Zealand has to offer.
The centrepiece of this three-dimensional stage was a live campaign photoshoot, during which the REBE spring/summer 2026 collection was unveiled.
“We knew we didn’t want to do a classic runway show. Instead, we wanted to riff on the idea of a residency – we wanted a space where we could bring people into our world and collaborate with other brands.
“‘The Apartment’ proved a lot of work, but we took a ‘Go hard or go home’ approach!” Healy laughs. “And the feedback has been amazing.”
With New Zealand Fashion Week now over and the inaugural Helping Kiwis Fly – Fashion Edition award win in the bag, what’s next for Healy and REBE?
“More pop-up stores in the short term, but the goal is to have something permanent in the next six months,” says Healy. “I feel that’s important, especially in luxury retail. People want to touch the product and see what it looks like in person. I think shopping in ‘real life’, as opposed to online, is so crucial to making a good decision and loving what you’re investing in.”
Healy’s ambitions for REBE also extend to the American market, while strengthening her presence closer to home.
“Europe and the US are important, but New Zealand and Australia remain really key for us. Honestly, it’s all about the customers at the end of the day, and we’re so fortunate to have amazing brand champions here,” she says.
“I just want to keep creating products that people love and introduce more and more people to REBE. We’ve got a plan, so yeah – bring it on!”