Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron has been credited with reshaping the New Zealand outdoor clothing and equipment market and now she has been honoured for her hard work.
Australian-born Cameron, who is a New Zealand resident, has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to business and philanthropy.
In 2006 she sold her now NZX-listed clothing empire for $275 million to a consortium of private equity funds, including Goldman Sachs JBWere.
The deal reportedly left her with $230 million in the bank.
She then moved to Tasmania, where she still lives, and became involved in animal welfare work.
Cameron was said to have "stormed" the male-dominated, insular environment of the New Zealand outdoor market in the 1970s.
In that decade she opened her first Alp Sports store in Christchurch and undertook a clothing revolution based on boutique retailing, sharp marketing and mass discounting.
Cameron and former business partner John Pawson, who was killed in a climbing accident on Mt Aspiring in 2008, established the first Kathmandu store in Melbourne in 1987.
It was stocked with merchandise mostly manufactured in New Zealand. The first New Zealand Kathmandu stores opened in the early 1990s.
These days Kathmandu is known for its well-publicised sales. Its puffer jackets can be found in many Kiwi wardrobes.
Cameron has a reputation for being intensely private and notoriously media shy.
Despite being New Zealand's most successful businesswoman, she has avoided mainstream business networks.
A former business associate, in a 2006 interview with the Herald, said: "She's comfortable in her own skin and doesn't really give a toss."
Apparently she has a virtual army of close associates who fiercely protect her privacy.
Her reclusive nature has helped to build a sense of mystery around her, reminiscent of other business heavyweights who prefer to shy away from limelight, such as Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett and New Zealand's richest man, Graeme Hart.
Calls to her company - Retail Adventures - as well as searches of the Australian phone books failed to find any sign of the elusive Cameron.
Bruce Irvine, Cameron's professional adviser for the past 20 years, says she is at present tramping "somewhere in Asia".
He says Cameron's edge in business came from her intellect and passion for trading.
"She changed the whole face of outdoor retail in Australasia - there's no question about it," Irvine says.
Cameron is also well known for her philanthropic nature, giving $2.5 million to the Hillary Institute - which recognises mid-career leaders through selecting annual laureates - in 2007.
Irvine says he is the "conduit" for people who require Cameron's philanthropic gestures, and adds she is particularly generous with causes involving young people or animals. At the Hillary Institute's launch Cameron said: "You can only use so much money yourself, so you've then got to decide what to do with it. I'm in a privileged position to be able to do that."
Inspired by passion for trading
Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron supports many causes. Photo / Martin Sykes
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