The story of fashion is predominately a female one, a narrative supported by the numbers which show that in the 1950s the New Zealand clothing industry was employing about 37,000 people and women outnumbering men three to one. Not only are women the main consumers of fashion, they also make up the biggest proportion of the manufacturing labour force and frequently they have also been the designers, cutters and the business entrepreneurs.

While there is a general perception that women had an ancillary rather than a leading role in society prior to the women’s liberation movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the story of fashion in the city debunks that myth. In the record of this history you can see that many women have taken a strong and often unconventional role in establishing and running their business while their husbands feature in a supporting position.

Two of Auckland’s most fashionable department stores, Milne & Choyce and Smith & Caughey’s, were established in the late 1800s by women; Mary Jane and Charlotte Milne and Marianne Smith respectively. Such was the success of their enterprise that they brought their men into the business. Mary Jane Milne was joined by Charlotte’s husband Henry Choyce and Marianne was joined by her husband William and her brother Andrew Caughey. The women did not then demure but rather they remained actively engaged in the running of their stores.

Throughout the 1900s entrepreneurial and creative women continued to establish and run successful designer salons and manufacturing enterprises and in so doing they modelled a pathway to success for the young independent designers of today.

These profiles illuminate and celebrate our designing, making and selling fashion history. They bear witness to the many remarkable women who have contributed to the making of our identity through fashion.

Read more about the Auckland women in fashion in the exhibition Walk the Walk: A history of fashion in the city.