Next month, when New Zealand’s fashion is celebrated at Dunedin’s ID fashion week, one of New Zealand’s most unlikely collectors will be celebrated, Naseby Farmer Eden Hore. Josie Steenhart talks to Dr. Jane Malthus, one of the teams behind the tribute.
Arriving at the garage of Eden Hore’s upper country station in the 1980s, you would not be surprised to see tractors, dependencies, a Land Rover, of mud, is clear-probably a handful of dogs and all the usual paraphernalia associated with agriculture in the center of Otago.
What you might be more surprised to Find also Greeting You, However, Will Be a Rare White Peacock, Ostriches, Emus, Tibetan Yaks, Dingoes, Lovebirds, An Elderly Coyote, An Assort of Miniature Horses Decked Out In Decrative Harnesses and Nine In addition of ornamental Gardens and Lawns Featuring to 21-Jet Illuminated Fountain.
Poking your head into the 130sq M Shed Originally Built to Store Tractors and Grain, Your Believe Be Further Suspered When Gift With 120 Couture Gowns and Garmeents, Created by Many of New Zealand’s Most Celebrated Designers of The Times, Displayed In Glass-Fronted Wardrobes, A Replica of Princess Anne’s 1973 Wedding Dress Made Using 25 Metres of Silk, At Least 30 Taxidemed Animals, Large Dolls Dressed in National Costumes, Miniature Trans, Trucks and Car, 280 Jim Back Decantors and more than 70 Jugs of Porcelain Jim Beam.
“It was certainly a unique place,” says Jane Malthus, historian of Dunedin Dress historian, curator and fashion design educator Jane Malthus, who first visited the Tūhura Otago museum to discuss the care of the spectacular Hore designer clothing collection.
“When you entered [the shed]You’ve seen a right -handed taxidermous animals – a yak, coyote, lambs, rabbits, deer, for example – and on the left there were warnings with images of the clothes in the 1970s and the articles about shows that Eden had done at that time.
“Into The Showroom, You Were Confronted with Colour, Lots of Glamorous Gowns with Sequins, Feathers, Frills Hanging in Display Cases, Eden’s other Collections – Jim Beam Whiskey Decanters, Franklin Mint Dolls, Travel and Miss New Zealabilia Memorabilia INTERSPERSED, ON TOP OF CASES OR IN THEIR ONW WAIST-HIGH CASES, AND UNDERNATH IT ALL A VEY ’70S ORANE-COLOURED SCULPTURED WOOL CARPET!
“The tourists of New Zealand and abroad came for one day, probably thinking that everything was a little bizarre, but for those I met at that time, it was certainly memorable. They could describe everything in more detail,” Malthus says about the farm visitors.
And in the heart of everything was Eden Hore (1919-97), which Malthus describes in Couture Central Otago: The Eden Hore Collection (Published in March 2025 by Te Papa Press) as “a highly successful Māniatoto -successful farmer, who surprised not only his neighbors, but the nation in the 1970s, when he embarked on an unexpected foray to collect what he called ‘high and exotic fashion'”.
“When we [returned] There in 1988, selecting and photographing the clothes for an exhibition (held at the Otago Museum in 1989, called “a man’s fantasy”), he sat, dressed in his white jumpsuit, in one of his peacock chairs for most of the day, watching and remembering things about the clothes.
“I would like to have paid more attention or recorded everything – I didn’t realize that this collection would become the work of my life!”
In addition to showing off their award -winning clothes at the “Shed Tractor”, when his showroom became known, the cattle farmer and the former World War II also held locally fashion shows and around New Zealand.
One of the first times he took his collection on the road was to raise money for updates at Dunedin’s Regent Theater. The 1974 “Fashion Spectacular”, held at the theater, had 98 pieces of bikinis a sprouts, modeled by Joanne School of Charm Models for a 300 audience.
This was followed by fashion shows in Queenstown, Alexandra, Balclutha, Walcargill, Gore and Dunedin, as well as in the “Tractor Shed”, many of whom have raised money for charity. In 1976, Hore reportedly presented an event on the property with over 4000 guests.
“Eden was mainly a silent bankrupt man except to move the stock, driven by the desire to do something for his community, but something was unexpected in a rural environment,” says Malthus.
Hore described herself as an introvert, she says, but she also loved to provide entertainment to people-in the form of her collections, aviary, zoo, background travel, garden parties and fashion fashion parades.
“Like his action agent, Ren Lothian, he recalled, ‘This dress thing … It was not normal for a arrogant in those days, not in Māniototo,'” Malthus says in Couture Central Otago.
“Eden Hore Was a Many Contrasts. He Embodied and Boldly Defied the Stereotype of the ‘Southern Man’, Confidently Forgg Histo Idiosyncratic Path Through Life. Of home and an Astute Stockman with a Sharp Eye for A Quality Fabric and Hand-Almond Detail. His Retirement Plan Estabishing The Multi-Facish Attraction on your property, reflecting your many interests, to attract visitors from the region he loved. “
Preparing in Central Otago Couture about the enigmatic nature of Hore (and the guard -personal tune to match), Malthus says that “he recognized and celebrated his differences from stereotyped farmer, enjoying the contrasts that the many wires of his life have presented.”
“He might seem mercurial, enigmatic and unpredictable, but often thought deeply about things before acting, surprising others just because he had not expressed these thoughts. His life seemed to take unexpected twists, but to make these changes of direction always had a goal.
“Hiss Own Dress Sense Reflected These Differences And Purpians. On the Farm He Dressed as Most Farms Did, In Homespun Wool Jerseys or Jackets for Warmth and Moleskins Or Wool Trousers with Boots, But Later in Life, whene he was concentrating on his pet animal animal collections and Showroom, He Wore White Overalls and a cap so he Could Appear ‘Reasonably Respectable Even If I Am Dirty’.
“Like a showman on stage with his models, he wore a dark gray or white dining jacket and black pants, or a Batik fabric sports jacket that he bought in Asia. He boasted a variety of colorful shirts, some floral or even leopard, when the city of a city, at home, in Winser, at home.
The Hore collection was purchased by the Otago Central District Council (CODC) in 2013. Now, with the brand simply as Eden Hore Central Otago (EHCO), comprises 226 clothes by 41 designers or manufacturers and 49 accessories, including hats, shoes and jewelry.
“These Clothes are from new Zealand Designers who were well Known in the 1960s, ’70s and’ 80s, but our fashion design history has a largely forgotten Them, for Example, Kevin Berkahn, Colin Cole, Pauline Kingston, Beverley Horne, Pat Hewitt, Jo Dunlap, Maritza Tschepp, Eleanor Joel, Miranda Joel, “Malthus says.
“So I think it’s extremely significant to have great examples of your work together in this collection. Being able to tell stories of our past, competitions, wool and skins work, with such wonderful examples to show people, is inspiring for upcoming designers and entrepreneurs, I hope.”
With a particular observation, she says, are clothes that won awards such as Wool Awards, the Australian dress of the year and the Benson and Hedges Fashion Design Awards – “Those who tell the stories of our material and textile history: licenses to import, the tariffs to protect our wool industry, which create factories in new zealândia to get around these rules imposed by these rules imposed by governments “.
“High fashion designers [of the 1970s and 1980s] He often looked out of New Zealand for his inspiration, adopting and adapting ideas from Europe, inspired by fabulous fabrics from Europe and Japan.
“These decades saw social and cultural changes in fashion when the generation of babies resisted the dictates of conventional fashion, and the influences came from sources outside the world of traditional fashion.
“There are so many stories that can be told through this collection.”
This year, as well as the launch of Couture Central OtagoIn co-authorship of Malthus with the senior curator of Te Papa and award-winning author Claire Regnault, the highlights of the Hore collection will be on display at the Toitū Otago de Dunedin Museum.
Displayed in both are contemporary images filmed in the southern landscapes and places by the famous Kiwi photographer, Derek Henderson.
“Seeing and experiencing the clothes being worn and moving in Otago’s wonderful central landscapes was magical,” says Malthus.
“The way clothes came to life when they were worn … it was enlightening.”
She says that taking care of clothes – and the models – while in the environment was a challenge.
“Although the collection is not in a museum, we all want to preserve it for posterity, so we were very careful with the handling, where and how the models transform and outside of them, keeping them away from sources of dirt, etc.
“In the images, you can’t see the soil protection covers, hot water bottles, rugs and sauce to keep the models warm (because we used to go out at dawn and at dusk to get the best light), the vans dressed in shelves and bags, dust covers or some of the roads they traveled to reach our places.”
To see:
“Eden in Dunedin”, Toitū Early Settlers Museum, from April 2 to 21; Author Talk: Derek Henderson, Jane Malthus and Claire Regnault; Presided over by Michael Upchurs, Toitū Auditorium, April 2, Mid -Dia.
The book
Couture Central Otago: The Eden Hore CollectionBy Jane Malthus and Claire Regnault, with photographs of Derek Henderson, and published by Te Papa Press, RRP $ 70
