Meet the maker: Katie Brown, glass artist
18 March 2026
We talk to inspiring Whanganui-based glass artist, Katie Brown.
Meet the maker: Fresh Retro Love blankets
Kathleen Green makes vintage inspired blankets from New Zealand lambswool.
Orange, green, pink and gold. Tartans, stripes and fringes. They’re loud and joyous hugs, cozy blankets with personality, a mix of nostalgic style and modern comfort.
‘Fresh retro’ exactly describes the range Kathleen Green designs. Their look is obviously retrospective, riffing on the classic blankets made in New Zealand and found on beds in the 1960s and 70s. But the feel is an upgrade, as they’re now made with softer wool.
Colourful Fresh Retro Love blankets.
Kathleen’s love of wool goes way back – she very clearly remembers the blankets on her childhood bed – and evolved to become a bit of an obsession. “The quality of New Zealand-made products in the 60s and 70s was very, very high. And wool was part of that,” she says.
From collecting, admiring and studying blankets from about 20 Kiwi mills, to deciding to remake them was a slow burn. “I didn't actually set out to start a blanket business,” she laughs. “It came about over a period of time.”
Fresh Retro Love blankets evoke the classic style of the 60s and 70s.
Initially it involved restoring found blankets, bringing them back to life with brushing, patching and restitching before selling them.
Kathleen’s created her first design in 2020. Now, six years later, there are 14 designs in the Fresh Retro Love range of travel rugs, knee rugs and blankets – all designed by Kathleen and made at the only commercial mill left in New Zealand.
“I use lambswool instead of the coarser wool that was more popular in the 70s. The lambswool is softer and more pleasant to touch.”
The blankets are otherwise similar – the vibrant colours and the sizes echo the style of old.
And like the originals, they are entirely New Zealand made. Locally sourced wool is spun into yarn and dyed before being woven to Kathleen’s design. Huge rolls of the fabric are then washed and dried, then sent through a quality control process.
Fresh Retro Love blankets are made with New Zealand lambswool.
That part of the process is labour-intensive; inspectors sit in front of giant frames holding the woven material that’s come off the loom. “They very slowly roll the fabric down and check all of it. We don’t get any seconds because any flaws are repaired before it gets to me.”
Kathleen and a co-worker do all the finishing – cutting, blanket-stitching, attaching labels. Each blanket takes its place in the heritage of quality, New Zealand-made woollen bed warmers, using the same materials and production methods of years gone by.
“The proof is in the pudding. There are blankets that are 50 or 60 years old which are still on our beds. Our new ones are the same. They're pure wool, they're woven with the same methods… they'll last for decades.”
This story is from the Winter 2026 issue of AA Directions magazine.
