So in vogue

Did you know that New Zealand once had its own Vogue magazine? Te Papa plays host to ‘New Zealand in Vogue’, a free exhibition of local mid-century fashion that explores an influential decade of New Zealand’s fashion history…

Did you know that New Zealand once had its own Vogue magazine?

Te Papa plays host to ‘New Zealand in Vogue’, an exhibition of local fashion that explores an influential decade of New Zealand’s fashion history when New Zealand had its own Vogue magazine.

Featuring in the Eyelights Gallery on Level 4, and opening on 24 June 2011, the exhibition is inspired directly by the pages of Vogue New Zealand. And best of all, admission is free.

Left: c.1960 Horrockses Fashions, California Productions (NZ)Ltd, England, purchased 2011 by Te Papa and right, a 1957 Polly Peck, Jane Gibson cocktail dress, gift of Valerie.
Below: Womens shows c.1964 Christian Dior. Gift of J Bunckenberg.

New Zealand in Vogue will provide a snapshot of the New Zealand fashion scene from 1957 to 1968. British Vogue, the world’s most glamorous fashion magazine, established Vogue New Zealand in 1957. Perhaps surprisingly, the New Zealand Vogue was the first Vogue to be established outside of the United States of America and Europe.

Below: Dress and jacket c.1960s by Emma Knuckley (1913-1998). Gift of Mrs Doreen A. Cameron, 2011.

Drawing on Te Papa’s fashion collection, this exhibition is also based on research by Claire Regnault (Senior Curator History, Te Papa) for the The Dress Circle (2010), a fashion history which she co-authored with Lucy Hammonds and Douglas Lloyd Jenkins.

Below: Cocktail dress, 1950s El Jay.

The exhibition explores the impact of the magazine and the shape of the fashion industry in New Zealand by showcasing garments from top New Zealand designers, and those that were made here under licence from the world’s leading fashion houses, such as Christian Dior.

Below: Cocktail dress c.1959 Nicholls, Alison, Wellington.

As well as stylish suits and dresses reflecting the latest international trends, there are the accessories, essential to the well-dressed woman. Even the Vogue pattern home sewer is not left out.

New Zealand in Vogue
Eyelights, Level 4. Te Papa
24 June 2011 – September 2012