Thursday 3rd May, 6pm

Brought to you in partnership with iD Dunedin, enjoy an evening in the company of one of the fashion world’s most fascinating characters.

Gordon Leonard Clarke left New Zealand as a young fashion designer in the 60s and has spent his life surrounded by beautiful things. Now he has returned, with a determination to show the world that ‘Kiwi’ is chic.

Join us on a tour of Gordon’s world, from London to Venice, Los Angeles to Florence, as he discusses why New Zealand wool is second to none, and the importance of window dressing!

Booking essential

Thursday 3rd May, 6pm
Dunningham Suite, 4th Floor, Dunedin City Library
FREE

Gordon Leonard Clarke is a veritable force of nature, with a fashion pedigree spanning more than 40 years, over a career that began with Hardy Amies and Valentino in London, and took his designs all over the world. In the ‘70s, under his own label, he invented the ‘ten-piece’ suit, dressing celebrities such as Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, Nina Simone, Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Grace of Monaco in the process. Throughout the ‘80s he was a concept consultant to more than a dozen famed fashion labels, before opening a showroom in Florence in the ‘90s as an outlet for his exquisite homeware designs. His has been a life surrounded by beauty, superb tailoring and opulence, and it would be tempting to suppose that someone who has lived such a life might be somewhat out of step with everyday New Zealanders.

Here you’d be wrong, though, because what is most surprising about Gordon is how passionate he is about New Zealand and our place in the world. “Being a New Zealander in the world is fantastic!” he says. “I love that we’re taking Kiwi out into the world and making it chic.” He is a fierce advocate for New Zealand design, and considers New Zealand wool the most desirable in the world.

Gordon settled in Port Chalmers 15 years ago, and lives in a home filled with exciting examples of his own work – paintings, sculptures, poetry and found objects reflecting his lifetime of eclectic experiences, yet ever-grounded in his rock-solid personality – at once cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic, and totally Gordon’s world.