The company also picked up the highly coveted ‘Fastest Growing Exporter’ award and was again the sole fashion brand represented on the list, bucking the trend of tough times in retail.
“Kagi is still experiencing strong growth in the NZ market despite the supposed 'difficult trading times,” Kagi director and founder Kat Gee told Jeweller. “The reason is that the Kagi business model is built around affordable luxury and hot price points and, as such, thrives in a recessionary environment.
“We have got the recipe right and it’s a credit to my team that we have achieved what we have,” said Gee.
Kagi Jewellery now boasts more than 230 retailers across Australasia and Gee explained the significance of the Australian market to her business.
“Australia is an incredibly important rising market for Kagi. We have been thrilled so far with how receptive the Australian retailers and women are to our designs.
“The only difference [between Australia and NZ] being that designs that have been bestsellers in NZ for some time are experiencing new leases of life in Australia.
Gee said the company worked with a design council every season to ensure that every design taken to market was a winner.
“It’s a long process but we are always thrilled with the results,” she said.
This year has been hugely successful for Kagi. The company was also a finalist in the recent Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, receiving an Icehouse Scholarship, and being the first jewellery designer to host a show at New Zealand Fashion Week.
To qualify for the Fast 50 2012, a business had to have a minimum $300,000 revenue in 2009/2010.