Herrick’s first boutique opened in Auckland in 1957 in partnership with her husband Don Penberthy. The name Babs Radon combined the couple’s Christian names – Barbara and Don.
She was the sole designer, while Don, whose background was in engineering, became skilled in bias cutting. While formal and special occasion gowns were initially the mainstay of her range, Herrick quickly developed a reputation for elegant, well-cut suits and daytime dresses which offered young New Zealand women a modern alternative.
For Herrick, fashion represented confidence and self-esteem, qualities that attracted clientele with similar values. In her words “I wanted to make beautiful clothes for women to feel good in.”
The couple built their small boutique into an exclusive wholesale business, distributing Herrick’s designs to department stores around New Zealand.
The first competitive recognition of a Babs Radon design came as a commendation in the 1962 Golden Shears Awards. In 1964 Babs Radon received the premier award for Racewear – the Silver Shears.
The New Zealand Wool Awards were an even more significant accolade, and in 1963, competing against a field of more than 5300 garments, the Babs Radon “Lambda” dress and jacket ensemble received the Supreme Award. With these major national awards and publicity, Babs Radon was firmly established as one of the leading high-fashion labels.
Herrick took over the business in its entirety in the late 1960s, and as an independent working mother continued to build on her already significant reputation as a designer.
A regular in the New Zealand and Australian editions of Vogue, her designs were high-profile. In the later 1960s she completed prestigious design commissions such as the air hostess uniforms for airline New Zealand National Airways Corporation (NAC), the bridal outfits for a vice-regal wedding, and the personal outfits for pioneering female broadcaster and spokeswoman Cherry Raymond. We have two Babs Radon dress and jacket sets worn by Raymond in our collection.
By the 1970s, fashion was changing. The high-quality fabrics Babs Radon and its contemporaries based their reputations on had become too expensive for a market looking to get more for their fashion dollar.
As the emphasis in local fashion moved from couture towards design-led manufacture, Herrick’s interest waned, and in the mid-1970s she retired the Babs Radon label.
We will remember her through collections like ours where her legacy as a fashion icon will live on and inspire generations of new designers.
Sara Perrett is the collections care and access manager at MTG.
