History of Black in Fashion

In the twentyfirst century, New Zealand Inc. has come to be increasingly represented by the colour black" says Doris Du Pont in her new book, BLACK: The History of Black in Fashion, Society and Culture in New Zealand…

BLACK: The History of Black in Fashion, Society and Culture in New Zealand. Curated by Doris Du Pont.

I naively assumed that this book would simply be about the New Zealand designers I so deeply adore. How very wrong I was.

For those of us that wear the uniform of "brooding, intellectual" black, it appears there are many reasons why we do so. The reasons are are varied as the wearer’s personalities – the commonality being the colour itself. The reasons are delved into in this wonderful discourse on black and its strange and often uneasy relationship with New Zealand.

"Black is the colour of the outsider, the rebel, can also speak of the possibility of a fresh and innovative perspective, as opposed to a conservative outlook… In the twentyfirst century, New Zealand Inc. has come to be increasingly represented by the colour black, both in the stories we tell to ourselves and about ourselves. Black is a comfortable fit." Doris Du Pont.

What surprised me about this book was the observations about the balancing act that black achieves in between, good and bad, conservative and rebel, town and country – i hadn’t thought about dichotomy… This book makes you think. It also happens to be gloriously illustrated – a celebration of our obsession with clothing ourselves in black.

With the first chapter titled "Why do we wear black?" by Doris Du Pont, the rest of the book finishes off the thought, with a Maori perspective on the wearing of black – the adoption of black as a colour of mourning in the nineteenth century – different from the previously used red worked into hats to denote mourning. Following on is black in the Victorian era, black as a fashionable colour, lack in sport, and even an entire chapter on the black singlet. The book then moves on to black clothing in NZ cinema – with some great stills from iconic films like Queen City Rockers, Desperate Remedies, (with the stunning Jennifer Ward Leland) Utu, and Once Were Warriors.

I loved the next chapter The Cultural Politics of Wearing Black: Its Ironic Association with both Authority & Anti-Authority by Prudence Stone. I hadn’t thought of this pull between the rebel and the conservative – the politician and the rocker – the widow and the dominatix.

"Fashion’s paradox is consistent with black’s in that its authoritarians dictate a uniform code for the consumer the follow, while they reserve rights to break away from it with new ‘statements’ each season" – Prudence Stone.

The book finishes with chapters on both music and fashion – the two things black is deeply ingrained in – especially in New Zealand. Andrew Clifford writes "Back in Black -Dark Undercurrents in Music Down Under. I loved the description of the 80s alternative music scene – with the uniform of black jeans, black T-shirt (or white was passable) with an op shop shirt or jacket for dressing up, and Doc Martens for footwear. This uniform was unisex of course!

A Culture of Ease: Black in New Zealand Fashion in the new millennium needs to be required reading for everyone in the fashion industry, and anyone else who is even vaguely interested in fashion.

"Black, Black, Black. They love it" – so said Lisa Armstrong, the fashion critic for the London Times in 2004 at NZ Fashion Week. How right she was, even now. In European terms she concluded, "Sydney is Milan and Auckland is Antwerp. Or to put it another way, Sydney is Paris Hilton and Auckland is John-Paul Satre, without the lifelong existential crisis." Since the late 1990’s there have long been comments about the differences between The Australian and New Zealand fashion scenes, from the moment when it all pivoted for us – 1997, when Zambesi, Wallace Rose, World and Moontide took to the catwalk at Australian Fashion Week, where our inventiveness was lauded, especially Zambesi.

The next year had Kate Sylvester, Karen Walker, Workshop and Nicolas Blanchett joining the original four.

In 1999 Zambesi, Karen Walker, NOM*d and World were invited to show at London Fashion Week. The four very different collections received high praise and in the aftermath of publicity Karen Walker articulately commented, when asked about NZs "darker tones", "Take The Piano, Colin McCahon’s paintings, our work, and even Neil Finn – there is a kind of heavy, ominous, slightly restrained kind of feel. And I think that comes from our culture and our landscape and just the personality of the country. There’s a heaviness to it."

The images in this book are gorgeous, the writing articulate, and varied – the thoughts voiced – provocative.

BLACK: History of Black in Fashion, Society and Culture in New Zealand – Edited by Doris Du Pont. Published by Penguin, it retails for $59.99 and is available now. For more information see www.fashionmuseum.org.nz. The cover is perfect, and everything is else just a bonus. Buy it – and read it cover to cover, it is worth the effort.

By Anya Brighouse 23 March 2012
Photos by Anya Brighouse from the NZ Fashion Museum’s Little Black Cocktail evening March 2011 featured on Thread.co.nz here.