Auckland Library Exhibition Excavates New Zealand Fashion Archives

What did we used to wear, and why does it matter?

Arguing for the cultural importance of documentation, Auckland Central City Library’s newest exhibition centres the history of clothes — and personal style — in Aotearoa. Head up to level two of the library and you’ll find some special threads of the past.

Delving into the library’s archives, That’s so last century: What we wore 1950s-1990s resurfaces some of the city’s fashion history.

Spotlighting street style photography and its relation to different historical eras, the exhibition tracks post-war stylings from the 1950s to the more casual 1990s, with images from influential photographers, including John Rykenberg and Clifton Firth.

Rykenberg’s photographs of Aucklanders on the street are revelatory. Clothing documentation from decades past can be restricted to what made it into fashion publications, so seeing what a diverse array of Kiwis chose to wear for daily life is a significant inclusion.

“Visiting an exhibition entirely dedicated to local fashion history feels special. The archives of our fashion history are usually pretty disparate, so to see remnants of our street stylings through fashion media, photography, patterns and illustration is quite the treat,” says Viva writer Madeleine Crutchley, following our visit this week. “The Rykenberg photographs are especially amazing — capturing a real mood of the times in crisp and intimate portraits.”

Publications are, of course, part of the exhibition too, including some of New Zealand’s most influential magazines, some now shuttered; there’s Planet — with its documentation of Pasifika Festival 1994 that features work by designers like Annie Bonza — and an incredible spread of perennially cool street style ChaCha’s July 1984 issue.

Also included is fashion’s role in music and pop culture, with records from local artists like Ardijah. And, as we’re at the library after all, some of New Zealand’s most important fashion books are highlighted, with hard-to-find tomes like Loving Stitch, Looking Flash, Looking Terrific: The story of El Jay and more ripe for your reading list — we advise putting in a request on the library system now for when the exhibition wraps.

Going behind the clothes, there’s also a glimpse at the past of local manufacturing.

The photographs, media artefacts and books are complemented by a range of audio tracks, as well as a few events: New Zealand Fashion Museum founder Doris de Pont will offer a guided tour of the collection, the library will play host to a clothes swap and a school holiday workshop will explore the importance of fashion and sustainability.

A must-see exhibition, it’s equally rewarding for people with a deep knowledge of local fashion, and those not versed in New Zealand clothes history. Everyone will come away with something to think about.

The exhibition opened this week and runs until July 13. Entry is free, and the library is open every day except Sundays.

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