Fashion Heritage

A who’s who of fashion designers donned cocktail dresses at Auckland’s Heritage Hotel Grand Tearoom in celebrating the launch of Te Papa Press’s new title, NZ Fashion Design, profiling 25 top New Zealand designers of the last 30 years…

Well, what a night.

I mean, really, what a night!

A beautiful iconic room, the Grand Tearoom at the Heritage Hotel, was the place to be seen on Thursday night as Te Papa Press announced the launch of the gorgeous new book NZ Fashion Design by Angela Lassig.

Below: Angela Lassig with her book in front of the WORLD flamenco-style dress which features in pride of place on the book’s cover. In this instance, you CAN judge a book by its cover.

The evening was MC’d by the glamorous Antonia Prebble looking stunning in peach satin. Claire Murdock from TePapa Press spoke followed by the incredibly talented Peter Shand, who curated both ‘We fought fashion and lost’ (a WORLD exhibition) and ‘Zambesi – Edge of Darkness’ exhibits at Auckland War Museum. The speeches ended with Angela Lassig, the author of the landmark book.

Below: Lassig with Neville Findlay.

Lassig says she will next be working on the period prior to the 30 years covered by the current book. The 25 designers included in this work cover both established designers (Zambesi, Kate Sylvester, Karen Walker) and newer designers (Lonely Hearts, and Cybele). There were some surprising omissions, and the quiet talk of the night was of the designers who didn’t make it into the book, almost more than the ones who did!

Below: James Dobson (Jimmy D designer) and Antonia Prebble (star of Outrageous Fortune)

Below: Our fashion heritage on display at The Heritage.

It was a veritable who’s who of NZ design and fashion, and many of them were present; Liz and Neville Findlay (and family), Adrian Hailwood, James Dobson from Jimmy D, Cybele Wiren and fashionistas Petra Bagust and Colin Mathura-Jeffree to name a few. From what I understand, the evening was the hot ticket for the week, and there were many disappointed people who weren’t invited! There were nearly more fashion ‘faces’ in one room than for the whole of fashion week last year. Quite an impressive feat in itself however there were a few notable people missing with neither Trelise Cooper, Annah Stretton nor Karen Walker there.

Chris Lorimer (Mint Condition & Ciel PR) and James Dobson.

Adrian Hailwood (centre) and Ricardo Simich (right) of One Agency PR.

Below: Sara Orme, her niece Jessica Close (of Alexandra Owen, who couldn’t attend herself) and Jay, just back from NY, wearing a Liz Mitchell jacket – Liz asked her to especially.

There were a lot of pieces of beautiful clothing in the room. Both on mannequins and on the back of people in the room. Lots of vintage – fine NZ designer vintage – in homage to their favourite designs. All the staff and family of Zambesi where present, and the friend that came with me for the evening commented how beautiful and timeless they all looked. We decided we coveted Liz Finlay’s perfect shade of red lipstick, but were far too shy to ask her what it was.

It was a perfect example of the longevity of much of the design showcased. If you knew what you were looking for, there were fabulous examples of Alexandra Owen, Kate Sylvester (Petra Bagust – head to toe – we especially loved the gold jodhpur boots), Zambesi (me), Liz Mitchell, Marilyn Sainty, Beth Ellery to name a few we could spot.

Below, fight for the right to party: Archival fashion from Te Papa by Kate Syvester (left) and WORLD.

There was someone head to toe in Ed Hardy which we didn’t think was very good form. We loved that there were quite a few men in suits – which often doesn’t happen at these events – and not a pair of jeans in sight (except for the girl who wore Ed Hardy…)

The evening was simple, and elegant, much like NZ fashion (though it does tend to have its darker side) and it went off without a hitch, with many staying until the very end.

Below: Leigh Matheson and partner Andy Pickering of PILOT magazine.