The farmer who collected couture

Eden Hore’s high country farm was home to miniature horses, a herd of bison and the country’s largest collection of couture.

The late farmer’s unusual fashion collection was the subject of a three-day photo shoot in Central Otago last week, the first time the garments have been out of their boxes in years.

A successful sheep and cattle farmer, Hore built the collection of 276 pieces during the 1970s and 1980s, housing it in a former tractor shed on his Naseby property.

When he died in 1997, he left the clothes to his nephew, John Steele, and his wife, Margaret.

The couple sold the collection to the Central Otago District Council in 2013 and a steering group was set up to plan for its future.

That was no small task, group member Paul Blomfield said, because while the root of Hore’s passion for high fashion remained a mystery, the significance of his collection was clear.

‘‘He was a real collector of all sorts of animals – he even had bison – so he was just a wonderful, unusual, eclectic person,’’ Blomfield said.

‘‘Whatever his reasons were for beginning to collect garments, he unwittingly created the best private collection of vintage couture anywhere in Australasia.’’

The council paid $40,000 for the garments six years ago but Blomfield, an Auckland-based public relations consultant, believes their current insurance value is $80,000.

‘‘From my experience with the fashion industry, I would say the collection’s value is way out of that league,’’ he said.

The collection includes garments from leading New Zealand

designers of the time, including Kevin Berkahn, Vinka Lucas and Rosalie Gwilliam.

Blomfield said 12 pieces would be photographed at locations around the Maniototo, where Hore once lived.

Photographer Derek Henderson, who captured Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for her Vogue cover, flew in from Australia for the shoot and the images would be used to promote the collection rather than the region.

However, there would likely be tourism benefits, Blomfield said.

‘‘Our job is to get the collection in front of the public and this shoot is the start of that.

‘‘Just from the work we have done so far, it has already generating interest in Central Otago.’’