Wednesday 2 July 2025, 12:10pm to 1pm
Taiwhanga Kauhau — Auditorium, (lower ground) National Library Wellington. Entrance on Aitken Street or on Zoom.
Curator and writer Claire Regnault will present an illustrated talk on a unique fashion collection that was amassed in the 1970s by Eden Hore, a Central Otago farmer with an unusual vision.
High country meets high fashion
In 1975, a makeshift museum opened on a farm in the tussocked hills of the Maniototo region of Central Otago. On display were more than 220 high-end fashion garments by top New Zealand designers including Colin Cole, Vinka Lucas, and Kevin Berkahn. The garments had been collected by J Eden Hore, a successful but quietly spoken high-country farmer.
Join us for this month’s Public History Talk with Claire Regnault, a member of the Eden Hore collection steering group and co-author of the book Central Otago Couture: The Eden Hore Collection.
A farmer’s fashion legacy
Eden Hore was a man of many contrasts. He embodied and boldly defied the stereotype of the ‘Southern Man’, confidently forging his own idiosyncratic path through life. His collection of 1970s and 1980s garments — housed in an old tractor shed — featured sequins, feathers, and lace. Eden also collected garments to show off the versatility of sheep’s wool (one of his farm’s products) and the sophisticated elegance that handcrafted designs could attain.
Eden Hore Central Otago website
About the speaker
Claire Regnault is a Senior Curator at Te Papa, and has authored several books on New Zealand’s fashion history, including Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 (Te Papa Press, 2021). She is president of Costume and Textiles Aotearoa New Zealand, and sits on the Eden Hore Central Otago steering group.