Our Story
Sheryl our Founder
Surrounded by artisans and the love of handcraft from an early age - my dad is a potter, my mother a seamstress, and my grandmothers painters and photographers - nature nurture, or is that nurture nature....? I think design was in my DNA.
I love to draw and paint, decorate and embellish, and alongside my 3 sisters, we were encouraged to do just that. After attaining a BA at the University of Auckland I went on to study fashion at the now Massey University, and moved abroad in 1992.
The insatiable urge to travel and experience other cultures, coupled with some life experience, coincided with the need to find purpose and my place in the world. And so it was the year 2000 after a 5 year work experience stint with the fashion label Idol based in Soho, London, I started my own label – Goya.
It all began with stocking London boutiques, but after being selected to show at London Fashion Week Designers Exhibition, expansion ensued and selling into the worldwide market meant I had to rebrand to my name and so Sheryl May the brand was born. I brought the brand home to Gisborne, New Zealand, in 2010 and have worked in a wholesale capacity selling to beautiful stores throughout the country over the last 15 years. It feels right to finally open my own online store now!
Print and Fabric
Print design for fashion is my first love and focus. Signature print sets the brand apart in an oversaturated garment world. The fabric base for that print is equally important, and I am very selective.
I almost exclusively use natural fibres - organic where possible, deadstock when available. When printing in India I use their cottons and linens, and from Indonesia I focus on thier beautiful viscoses. I also try and utilise woollen cloth from local suppliers here in NZ. Fashion in its nature is not environmentally friendly, so I am consciously striving to be as sustainable as I can be in my small way. Sometimes I am the one sampling and making up production too!
Process and Inspiration
Collage is at the core of my art aesthetic. Expect the unexpected! Texture, pattern and colour are my oxygen. I see pattern and colour combos in everything around me.
The perfect imperfection of nature always attracts me. I am constanly on the lookout for inspiration. I walk the beach, I visit charity stores, I speak with fashion people, and i travel to foreign places. I am fortunate enough to live my passion, then bring it into the beautiful pieces I offer in the different collections.
