This week New Zealand in Vogue  was installed in the Eyelights gallery on the 4th floor. Its simple 1960s lines replaces the razzle dazzle of Enriching Fashion.

As I mentioned in my last post on Wool Week, the exhibition is inspired by Vogue New Zealand, the pages of which have been the exhibition’s guiding force, from the selection of garments to exhibition’s design.

The overall spatial design of the exhibition has been inspired by the graphic layout of the magazine, which honours the grid and the black line.

 The above case is based on a  Vogue fashion spread entitled Unbeatable All-Blacks. It was of course a spread on the classic black dress, but in 2011 provides a wholly feminine nod to the upcoming Rugby World Cup. Whereas Enriching Fashion sparkled against a black background, for NZ in Vogue we’ve opted for a fresh, clean white backdrop to give the space a more modernist feel in keeping with the period. 

 This lovely Kaiapoi woollen knitting yarn advertisement provided the inspiration for The Look of Wool, which focuses on the relationship between fashion and the wool industry in the 1960s.

            Carlos Wedde and Penny Angrick, both of whom work is Object Support, were responsible for turning the Kaiapoi advertisement and the designer’s drawings into 3D reality.

Our designer, Ben Barraud, also drew his muted colour palette from the pages of the magazine. Here colour meets the grid in great style for Five Leaders of New Zealand Couture.

Please join me for a floor talk on Friday 24 June at 12.15 noon and I’ll talk more about the exhibition’s inspiration and realisation.