Over 120 garments that help to tell the story of the evolution of summer fashion in New Zealand and explore how our relationship to the coast not only encapsulates our identity but how it has inadvertently influenced it and permeated our everyday existence.

When Māori charted the coastline of New Zealand they were sketching an outline that would become the profile of our land, recording and fixing its identity. With a coastline in excess of 15,000 kilometres where no one lives more that 130 kilometres from the sea, New Zealanders are island people and never far from the edge. It is inevitable that this geography should play a part in defining who we are and how we stand in the world.

The At the Beach exhibition presents over 120 garments that help to tell the story of the evolution of summer fashion in New Zealand and explore how our relationship to the coast not only encapsulates our identity but how it has inadvertently influenced it and permeated our everyday existence. By looking at what we wore at the beach over the last 100 years we can see and experience in a visual and personal way some of that development, making connections that highlight the impact of living so close to the coastal margin. This exhibition covers a number of themes that invite you to look at past practice and also to reflect on how our unique beach culture is evident in our contemporary national fashion identity.

Many thanks to the sponsors of this exhibition.