A desire to create original garments and not be dictated to by mass market fabrics, sees New Zealand designer Doris de Pont working with artists each season to create her distinctive label. Creating the fabrics and garment designs from ideas generated locally gives the collections an integrity and authenticity that resonates globally.

De Pont has been designing clothes for more than 20 years and is based in Auckland, and describes her clothes as “womenswear daily”, meaning that they can carry you through all the hours and tasks that a day demands.

While black is the staple of any fashion wardrobe, Doris de Pont is especially known for her use of a rich colour palette. She designs individual pieces with clean classic form aimed at the creative woman, leaving scope for the wearer to create a look that is uniquely her own. The only criteria is a confident and adventurous spirit.

With a degree in cultural anthropology, de Pont is interested in social and fashion anthropology and interprets that in her collections. Of Dutch descent, but born in New Zealand, de Pont lived in the Netherlands from 1977-84 and designed clothes as part of a Women’s Fashion Collective in The Hague. Returning to New Zealand in 1985, she opened her own retail store in Auckland, selling her Doris de Pont label. Her quirky designs stopped traffic and were a talking point in amongst Auckland’s leading fashion circle.

Combining work with family commitments, de Pont did freelance design work from1989-1994. As a freelance designer she started working with specialist textile designers to fulfil commissions such as the cabin crew uniforms for Nuie Airlines and uniforms for the New Zealand team to the1993 Gay Games in New York city.

This interest in combining art and design led to the birth of DNA in 1994. The label went from strength to strength and has had successful shows at both Mercedes Australian Fashion Week and L’Oreal New Zealand Fashion Week in 2003. de Pont relaunched under the Doris de Pont labels at New Zealand Fashion week to critical media and buyer acclaim.

Doris de Pont’s highly original designs are known throughout New Zealand, Australia - and more recently in London, Denmark, and Japan. Images from her 2005 collection Dance were selected for publication by the prestigious Italian magazine Collezione. Garments are also held in the collection of the Auckland Museum and Te Papa.Tongarewa, the Museum of New Zealand.

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