As we celebrate 15 years of Head over Heels Christchurch, it's also a time to reflect on the journey that has shaped us to who we are today. Take a trip down memory lane as we look back at the last 15 years.

Join us in-store on April 4th for our celebration, see the details here.

Greta and Mary

2009
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March - Two years after her mother, Mary, established the first HOH store in Timaru, Greta opens Head over Heels at her dream shop on 170 High Street, Christchurch.

2010
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February - HOH launches the range of covetable Beau Coops shoes from NZ designer Carrie Cooper.

2011
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February - A 7.1 earthquake hits Christchurch, causing significant damage to the store and forcing it to close. Determined to continue the HOH journey, Greta travels to Europe on a buying trip two days later.

April - Temporary access to our store is gained to retrieve our customer’s laybys.

June - A phone call informs us that our store has been demolished with all of our stock and fit-out still inside.

December - Our Timaru store opens a pop-up shop at the Merivale Manor. We are thrilled to be serving our Christchurch customers again.

December - We sign a lease to open a HOH store in Merivale and begin excitedly planning our fit-out.

Merivale Manor

2012
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March - With our Winter stock arriving, we receive the news that the Merivale store is unsafe. We reopen HOH at the Merivale Manor.

April - HOH moves into the dynamic Re:Start container mall in the heart of the city’s red zone.

June - We move into a temporary container while a larger HOH container is being built.

December - The German brand, Trippen, launches in our store. Their distinctive designs rapidly become a HOH favourite.

Re:Start Container Mall

2013
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November - We redesign and rebrand our logo & packaging.

2014
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May - The Re:Start Container Mall precinct relocates to Cashel Street/Oxford Terrace.

December - The first HOH website goes live.

2015
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September - Valley Eyewear’s striking optical & sunglasses range launches in-store.

2016
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August - We sign a lease to open a new store on High Street.

2017
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June - We celebrate HOH’s return to High Street.

High Street

2018
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October - The beautiful range of NZ-designed Deadly Ponies handbags launches in-store.

2019
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March - We celebrate 10 years of HOH Christchurch with our wonderful & loyal customers.

2020
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March - We close our doors as NZ enters a nationwide lockdown. Our website remains open and we continue to work from home. We stay connected with our customers & community online through our social channels.

April - NZ moves to Alert Level 3, allowing us to return to our store to resume dispatching online orders and run a click-and-collect service. We are featured on TVNZ and are so appreciative of the positive feedback and support.

April - Our goal to work directly with European shoemakers is realised. We launch our first-ever in-house brand, Ardour, while in Alert Level 3, after developing the brand with Spanish partners.

August - We open our first Pop-Up Store in Dunedin. We have cues of customers waiting outside and are incredibly welcomed by the amazing community.

October - Our new and improved website goes live.

December - Greta welcomes her first baby, the third generation of HOH, James. The team keeps the ship running while Greta adapts to motherhood and learns to balance this with running a small business.

2021
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January - HOH founder Mary retires, closing our Timaru store after 14 years. We continue to provide exceptional shoes and service to our loyal customers who supported our Timaru store through our online & Christchurch stores.

February - We welcome the iconic Australian brand, R. M. Williams to our Christchurch store.

June - We launch Abigayle, a collaboration between Greta & Carrie Cooper (ex Beau Coops designer). Abigayle was born in the 2020 lockdown, after Greta caught up with Carrie in Europe. This is a dream come true for Greta.

August - We enter another lockdown due to Covid, closing our doors once again.

September - We welcome NZ brand Bronwyn to HOH, designed by the incredible Sarah Street. This is Bronwyn’s first-ever collection after Sarah decided to make the brave decision to step out in her own venture.

2022
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February - Borders for International travel open for the first time since the 2020 lockdown. We are thrilled to welcome tourists back to the country and meet them in-store.

September - A much-needed and desired HOH HQ is born. We acquire a studio & office hybrid space where we operate our website, shoot our campaigns and run our back end.

November - We debut our first collection from Nelson Made, a sustainable and responsible brand based in Melbourne and designed by Kiwi Jamie Nelson. We’re really excited to welcome another talented NZ designer.

December - After searching for more sustainability-focussed brands we start launch Flamingos Life in-store & online. Their plant-based sneakers are handcrafted in Spain using recycled plastic & locally grown, biodegradable materials.

2023
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June - We are featured in FashioNZ for our A/W collection of Abigayle, our exclusive in-house brand.

August - Our first collection of understated and luxurious Vic Matie bags arrives, complementing the beautiful collection of shoes.

December - As we become more known for our accessories we expand our offering of eyewear. We introduce Bresac, a new and up-and-coming Australian brand, and Karen Walker Eyewear, an iconic New Zealand designer.

2024
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January - See by Chloé, the sister brand of the luxurious French fashion house Chloé is added to our repertoire of handcrafted European footwear brands.

February - Greta travels to Europe for her first buying trip since 2020. She is thrilled to return to Europe and reconnect with European footwear designers and our in-house brand partners. We love curating our range in person by trying everything on and discovering new brands we’ve admired from afar.

April - We celebrate 15 years of HOH with our loyal customers and past and present staff and reflect on the journey.

April - We unveil the new HOH logo that represents our brand as it stands today.