In this final episode of My Heels Are Killing Me for Season 4, Karen Walker talks to Sonia Sly in front of a live audience at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery about nurturing new talent, the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange and why she needs a sixth sense.

As soon as designer Karen Walker appears at the entrance to a room at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, I'm wiring her up with a microphone. Admittedly, it's an intimate way to greet someone. She's fine with it, of course and has arrived exactly on time.

The previous night had been a late one. She had been judging and watching almost 50 designers from around the world present their collections on stage as part of iD Dunedin Fashion Week, and I'm aware she must be exhausted.

This live interview at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery is the second time I've had the chance to sit with Karen. The first was for this episode where we talked about the business of fashion, motherhood and the pressures of dealing with reviews at New York Fashion week - something the brand no longer takes part in due to the way digital technology has changed consumer habits.

Waiting for Karen is a packed auditorium. Karen is a pro in front of an audience, as I'm about to discover. They laugh readily at her jokes, collectively and audibly inhaling when she mentions something they find surprising.

We start with intentionally silly quick-fire questions to get the ball rolling. I ask her which one of her senses she would choose to give up, if doing so would save the world. It gets the audience laughing as she cheekily reveals she'd not be able to lose any of them because they're all so vital, but in fact, she would need an extra one!

Then we get down to business, traversing the politics of the industry and getting an insight into the realities of her empire.

"We're a company that's all about ideas and storytelling," she says in response to a question about maintaining focus and remaining creative.

Karen says mass production has never been the motivation of the brand. Instead, she says, it's all about a focus on creating things that people can connect with, and surviving financially while doing that.

"It's nice to be able to make a buck at the end of that, and speaking of sustainability, you need to be able to sustain a business too," she says.

Karen has a full-fledged design studio up in Auckland. Something she discovered herself is considered quite a rarity in this day and age.

The brand has a its own sampling facility which includes at least 8 highly skilled machinists who can whip up samples at the drop of a hat. There's also a dedicated cutter and two sample room directors, on top of a design team…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details