Chic bloom fit for opera

Kevin Berkahn's 1973 creation. Photo / New Zealand Women's Weekly, Michael Willison; picture research Chris Marriner

New Zealand Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow, its ninth incarnation; five days jam-packed with corporate-sponsored catwalking. But 36 years ago, local designers were doing it for themselves.

This picture (right) appeared in the September 17, 1973 issue of the NZ Woman's Weekly magazine as part of a story looking at New Zealand designer Kevin Berkahn's splash into the Sydney market.

"We did our own fashion week in those days, we had to pay for it all ourselves," says Berkahn, who still runs a fashion business out of Osborne St in Newmarket.

The model in this picture was 19-year-old Susan Vickers, who had won the title of Miss Auckland earlier that year, despite refusing to compete in the swimwear competition because of her Mormon beliefs. Vickers lost out at the Miss New Zealand competition held in Levin in May to Miss Otago, Pam King.

Berkahn says the dress, designed for the Gala Charity Fashion Parade held for the opening of the Sydney Opera House, was "very advanced" for 1973.

"It was made out of 2 inch wide pleated trimming, and we made the whole dress out of metres and metres of that - and we dyed the wig the same colour green."

Woman's Weekly staff writer Ann Lloyd described the show: "Swirling spotlights of colour; chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz; electric synthetic greens and blues for wigs festooned with thousands of dollars worth of diamonds; makeup to outshine David Bowie striking a future mood."

In the caption beneath Michael Willison's photos, we learn: "No more harsh, masculine lines. Floating, soft and very feminine describes the newest in fashion for that special occasion."

Despite unkind comments from the newsroom that it resembles an "algal bloom", Berkahn reckons his creation would still make a splash.

"It's quite with it for today, really. Somebody could actually wear it."

But it won't be appearing this week at the Viaduct because Berkahn doesn't have any involvement. He says he wasn't asked.

"They don't involve anybody of our vintage in Fashion Week at all. They're only interested in taking the dollars off the young ones," he says.

Not that Berkahn has much respect for the fashionistas who have followed him. "They can't cut a pattern, and they call themselves designers."

matt.nippert@hos.co.nz