He may have worked with some of the biggest names in fashion, but shooting the Eden Hore collection against the backdrop of the dramatic Central Otago landscape has been a career highlight for photographer Derek Henderson.
It’s a chilly autumn morning and mist hangs at the base of white cliffs across the plains from Danseys Pass Road where a single sheep track ribbons through alpine grass.
It’s cinematic and photographer Derek Henderson captures the moment he’s visualised in just three minutes. Model Alannah Kwant alone in the landscape clothed in a red and white evening dress of hand spun and hand-woven wool, Lurex, beads, sequins and paillettes.
Prior to taking the shot, he’d preps Alannah as she waits in the car, cocooned in blankets, with the backstory he wants her to tell. Then casting off the blankets like a butterfly spreading her wings for the first time, she steps onto the path with a sense of purpose and wonder. What is she looking at? Thinking? Is there someone outside the frame?
The image (main image above) is what he calls “ambiguous” and could be a still from a film. It’s also his favourite image in Central Otago Couture: The Eden Hore Collection (Te Papa Press) written by Jane Malthus and Claire Regnault and photographed by Henderson.
John West coats with matching hats, early 1970s. Deer suede, possum fur and glass beads, EH74, EH75. Photographed by Derek Henderson at Home, Hills Runs Road, 2024.
“I would have shot that picture in three minutes but it’s all in the preparation that goes beforehand,” says Henderson. “I visualise what I’m looking for, then the model interprets that and it’s a captured moment, but it doesn’t take long because I’ve already kind of taken the picture and then I’ve just got to execute it.”
The backcountry backdrop provided the perfect foil for the glamorous gowns collected by “cattleman extraordinary and fashion fancier” (words penned by farmer Eden Hore himself about himself) who loved the land and frocks. And not just any frocks. Hore was an astute and visionary collector, and thanks to profits spun from the wool grown on his farm, he was able to afford some of the best examples of New Zealand design from the 1970s and 80s. And preserve a piece of New Zealand fashion history.
In fact, he was so taken with four garments that Kevin Berkahn made for the opening of his Sydney store opening in Double Bay in 1973 that he was determined to buy them, whatever the price. Berkahn asked $3000 ($46,000 in today’s currency) for his opera cape and chiffon dress as he didn’t want to sell it to Hore, believing that it was going “to a life of rural oblivion”. And as author Jane Malthus writes, he was right! Though today, Berkahn’s prized garments are preserved thanks to Hore and his name in lights again.
Kevin Berkahn knickerbockers and hooded cape, 1971. Brocade with Lurex yarns, synthetic straw and plaited cord belt, EH14. Photographed by Derek Henderson at Earnscleugh Castle, 2024.
When Henderson was initially approached for the project, he admits he was clueless as to who Eden Hore was, but he did know the landscape and wanted in once he’d seen the quality of the garments. He quickly got to know more about the man as well as marvel at the quality and intricacies of the designs by New Zealand designers from this period.
“A lot of people don’t think that there was much happening in [New Zealand] fashion but in actual fact, as you can see by the book, there was a bunch of really interesting designers doing amazing things with materials that maybe a lot of people weren’t doing elsewhere,” he says.
“I think it is interesting to see all these designers and then to see it all in the Central Otago landscape is a good thing as well to show that there were these designers doing amazing work in the 70s and 80s and if it wasn’t for Eden Hore, that would have just all vanished. Because it would be very hard to find any of those outfits now. It’s the biggest private collection of its kind in New Zealand and it is good people can have access through the book.”
Derek Henderson photographing model Ngahuia Williams wearing Beverley Horne two-piece hostess gown, 1971. in the Central Otago landscape. Photography Paul Blomfield.
Henderson believes that if this book gets around the world, it will influence northern hemisphere designers. “You’ll see some of those outfits influence collections in the next few years without a doubt because it’s so exotic and they’re always looking back to see what they can bring into contemporary times. It’s unique and there’s not many places you’d get that because you’ve got to remember New Zealand’s so far away from the rest of the world.”
The collection is vast – 226 garments by 41 designers or manufacturers and 49 accessories. Henderson insisted on photographing every single garment against a white backdrop over two days to have on record while approximately 120 were shot on location for the book.
Vinka Lucas (Maree de Maru), The Gatsby Look, 1974. Nylon organza, synthetic brocade, beads, sequins and ostrich feathers, EH59. Photographed by Derek Henderson at Poolburn Reservoir, 2019.
Typically, commercial fashion shoots take a couple of days, but photographing the Eden Hore Collection for the Central Otago District Council (who purchased the collection in 2013) was shot in two parts. Three days in 2019 and two and a half weeks in 2024.
Henderson deliberately shot the garments in the way that was contemporary. Designer Margi Robertson from NOM*d, who was stylist on the latter shoot, was in agreement with Henderson, supplying the footwear that helped step the images into modern day. Many of the delicate garments restricted the models’ movement, so when shooting free flowing garments, Henderson was all about getting some energy into them. “I didn’t want it to just look like a museum collection,” he explains.
Vinka Lucas evening dress and cape, early 1970s. Taffeta, synthetic voile, feathers and swansdown, EH48. Photographed by Derek Henderson at Lake Dunstan, 2024.
As far as jobs go, this is the longest fashion shoot in terms of duration Henderson has ever undertaken and “one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done”.
The crew shot on the lawns of Hore’s homestead at Glenshee, the surrounding landscape of Māniatoto, Home Hills Run and St Bathans, down the valley to Waipiata, Ōtūrehua, Poolburn Dam, around Alexandra, through Earnscleugh, Clyde and Bannockburn, Lake Dunston and Bendigo, and the small town of Ophir. Shooting in Ophir provide a serendipitous opportunity.
Hore also kept exotic animals and was proud of his contribution to the breeding stock of miniature horses in New Zealand. The crew had discussed shooting where the horses were, but the location wasn’t interesting. Then, one early evening while they were parked up in Ophir a woman walks past leading her miniature horse, Pippi.
Jo Dunlap jacket, gauchos, camisole and cap, 1979. Leather and deer hide, EH213. Photographed by Derek Henderson at Ophir with Pippi the miniature horse, 2024.
“We spoke to the woman, and it turned out to be a foal from one of Eden’s horses and she knew all about the project. She said I’m just taking him down to the river but I’ll be coming back up, and we were like ‘perfect and put Alannah in that [leather and deer hide] outfit and plonked her in the middle of the road because there were hardly any cars. It literally took five minutes to get that shot because we obviously had to get the horse and he was a really friendly guy.
Photographer Derek Henderson.
Main photo: Pauline Kingston evening dress, 1971. Handspun and hand-woven wool, Lurex, beads, sequins and paillettes, EH5. Photographed by Derek Henderson at Danseys Pass Road, 2024.
