The New Zealand Fashion Museum turned 10 this year, a milestone that was submerged with all the others as we’ve grappled with the disruptions caused by the pandemic. With NZFM being an online exhibition space, it’s been able to continue with uploading new content, particularly stories, and continuing its fashion tours in Auckland as circumstances have allowed. Although their planned celebrations were stymied, engagement with the online museum has grown.
The museum’s birthday turns out to be an occasion for looking forward as well as back. While a series of exhibitions and the ongoing website work have maintained its presence, founder Doris de Pont has recently announced that she’s moving sideways to make way for a new director to lead the museum into the next decade. As part of this process, the museum is running a major Boosted campaign to set it up for its future strategy. Last year’s Boosted target to buy the special mannequins for the Moana Currents exhibition was quickly met: this year, the campaign’s considerably more ambitious.
Doris talked to Karyn Hay on RNZ’s Lately about what’s happening with the museum, particularly this year and the broad outlines of its evolution. Congratulations to Doris and the team on their achievement in setting up and establishing this groundbreaking online collection – we look forward to seeing what comes next and wish them well with the fundraising, which runs until the end of the month.