Jeans guy Duncan McLean on the Wellington suburb that reminds him of NYC

Wednesday, 12 July 2023

Denim designer Duncan McLean lives in Mornington, but is a true fan of Newtown.

Wellington designer Duncan McLean has spent 30 years in the fashion industry, including a decade in New York City where he worked for fashion designer Cynthia Rowley and Banana Republic.

He lives in Mornington with his wife, Amanda Willis, and her son Riley, 18, and runs his eponymous fashion label in Newtown where he specialises in jeans. He is currently designing outfits for Wellington band Fat Freddy’s Drop.

DUNCAN: My daughter Norma-Grace is 21 and lives in Sydney, while my son James, 23, is a barista in Wellington.

My second wife, Amanda, who is the deputy principal of Lyall Bay School, has owned this house for about 10 years. I moved in with her eight years ago.

It’s a two-storey 1950s house with great views across Newtown, where my shop and studio is. The house has five bedrooms for when Amanda’s other son and my kids come to visit.

We’d love to throw some money at the house to get it how we want.

McLean’s Aunty Hazel was like a second mother to him and when she died she left him some of her possessions, including the large New Zealand landscape that now hangs on McLean’s living/dining room wall. “She had a wacky taste in art,” he says.

We recently put in a bathroom downstairs and re-did the kitchen. The kitchen cabinet carcasses were good so we kept those and got in a local company to replace and resurface the doors so that it looks like a brand new kitchen. We also replaced the Formica bench-top with a stainless steel one and added new flooring.

We’ve got a double bay garage with high ceilings and my dream would be to build a studio above it. I write my own music and play the guitar and recently recorded my first album, Kaniere. It’s the name of a river on the West Coast where I’m from and is also the name of my band.

McLean owns at least eight guitars, including this 1985 Rickenbacker which his parents gave him for his 21st birthday. He took it to New York with him and it’s one of his favourite guitars.

I wrote the 13 songs, my daughter sings on the album, and my mate from school plays the drums.

I’m not sure I’d be allowed to have a studio, though, because the space would make a great apartment, especially because it has off-street parking which is rare in Wellington.

I bought my shop in Newtown 19 years ago when I moved back from America.

McLean enjoys the views across Newtown where his shop and studio are.

It was built in 1898 and I lived in the apartment above it for a while. I love Newtown – it reminds me a lot of New York because it’s such a melting pot and a really interesting suburb. I love it so much that I’m now the Chair of the Newtown Business Group.

You’ll never go hungry in Newtown because there are so many great places to eat. My favourite is Pranah Cafe, because it’s across the road from my shop and they serve amazing vegetarian food. The owners are lovely, hard-working people. I also like Black Coffee café whose owners also own Aunty Social Lounge where the cocktails are amazing and the food is incredible.

I love craft beer, especially sour beer, so a favourite spot is Newtown’s Moon Bar. They have great beers on tap, live music and an open mic night every Tuesday which I pop into after the gym. I haven’t performed there yet.

A favourite thing to do in Wellington is to watch the Hurricanes play at Sky Stadium. It’s even better because I can ride my scooter right up to the stadium entrance. In summer, one of the best days out is the Newtown Fair, which is always a lot of fun.

I’m a keen mountainbiker so I love getting out into the native bush for a ride. Mākara and Mt Victoria are favourites but I also go over to Wainuiomata to ride.

A day trip we like to take is to Martinborough and Greytown but Amanda’s parents live in Paraparaumu so driving up the Kāpiti Coast is another good option. We mountainbike a lot in Rotorua and always got stuck in traffic both while leaving town and coming home, but Transmission Gully has made such a difference. It’s a joy going away now.