With 2015 in our sights we would like to take this moment to reflect back on a fabulous fifth year of celebrating New Zealand fashion.
The online museum now has 647 entries in its collection including everything from A-line dresses to Zephir, one of Christian Dior's named gowns. There are pieces drawn from all over New Zealand, from Ponsonby to Palmerston North where we went this year to record a wonderful collection of vintage garments assembled by Robyn Higgins for the fashion extravaganza Decades of Fashion.
Our growing online collection has attracted 62,100 page views over the year while our exhibitions HELLO, Elle and the Youthquake and The Age of Aquarius (touring) were seen by 19,017 visitors. If you are in the Wellington area over Christmas you can still indulge a little 1970s nostagia with a visit to the The Age of Aquarius at the Dowse Art Gallery in Lower Hutt. We also curated two online exhibitons, published our first e-book and a new reader and produced a silk scarf to mark our first year online.
Image credit: Auckland Weekly News. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19391213-35-1
Many thanks to all of you for your ongoing support – our Foundation Fans who inspire us, our Fan Club members who sustain us, our wonderful family of sponsors who work with us to make our exhibitions happen, our volunteers who are always ready to help dress a mannequin, host our visitors and tidy up afterwards and to the collectors, lenders and sharers of the fashionable garments, images and personal stories that make up the New Zealand Fashion Museum collection. And to all of you who support us by spreading the word and with your visits to our exhibitions, the online museum and our Facebook page – you make it all worthwhile.
We would especially like to acknowledge the contribution of the ASB Community Trust for providing the funding for our first employee, our web content manager, Kelly Dix. Also many thanks to all the talented participants in the scarf design competition and to Linda Evans for hemming them all. Thank you to the many writers, the editors and the producers of the published histories and profiles both in print and online, with particular mention to the inimitable Cecilie Geary for her stories and the gift of Being There we express our heartfelt thanks.
2015 is already shaping up beautifully with the promise of a look at the history of our unique summer fashion style in the exhibition, At the Beach. The New Zealand Maritime Museum, Voyager, will host our exhibition of bathing suits, beach pyjamas, sundresses, surf shorts and Hawaiian shirts from October 2015 to February 2016. This is the first time we will have an extended season in Auckland and we are looking forward to making a big splash and including many treasured garments and photos from your past. Please check your bach or your back room and let us know what you have to share.
The 2015 programme starts much earlier though with the Fashion in the City Festival in February and a pop-up exhibition at Silo 6 at Wynyard Quarter. Titled Darker Eden, we are working with the Otago Polytechnic to explore Dunedin's fashion identity. We will bring together the stalwards of the New Zealand fashion scene – Nom*D, Carlson and Mild Red – and alumni of the Otago Polytechnic fashion school – Twenty-seven Names, Company of Strangers and Vaughan Geeson. We look forward to seeing you there and, if you wish to be involved, please let us know.
For now we wish you and your whānau a safe and happy Christmas and look forward to a prosperous 2015.
Doris de Pont, Cerys Davidson, Karen White, Lesley Smith
