Natty

When Cat’s children went off to school and she was juggling working along with her young family, she decided to add to the craziness and start up a creative outlet on the side. After plenty of hard work and the business growing very organically, it was eventually time to give up her previous job and focus solely on Natty. Because a large part of the business is Cat designing and making Natty products to supply other stockists, the Natty shop doesn’t follow the usual 9 – 5pm rules, and instead you’ll find it open on Tuesday to Fridays 10am-3pm-ish (often later when there’s lots of work to get done) and Saturdays, 10am - 2pm.

After relocating from the first Natty workspace up the road in Berhampore, the part studio, part shop is now a gorgeous smelling, peaceful, light-filled space in Island Bay. If you’re wanting transparency in your shopping experience, Natty is the store for you. Stationery items, screen-printed textiles, illustrated greeting cards and the ever-popular jewellery fill the warm interior, where Cat makes the latest goods right under the gaze of curious customers. With a focus on Kiwiana without being too kitsch, and with a touch of humour coming through at times, there’s a real authenticity in seeing the hand-crafted pieces make their way from workbench to window display in the space of one small shop.

For more than 15 years, with many shops around the country stocking Natty, it’s easy to see how Cat is kept busy. In the store, you’ll see Natty goods nestled alongside a range of goodies by other talented NZ makers, including bags, hankies, ceramics, soaps, candles, wooden kitchenware, baby onesies, children’s toys and books, knitwear and solid perfume.

Visit Natty to get a taste of what a studio looks like in action. If you fancy popping in to grab a gift, chatting a while or doing a bit of browsing before jumping on the bus, it’s the perfect little independent gift shop filled with some of Aotearoa’s finest creatives.'