“SVELT WAS A NEW ZEALAND FASHION MILESTONE THAT WENT WHERE ABSOLUTELY NO ONE ELSE DID.”
Sheer coincidence finds me meeting artist Kerrie Hughes at Bowen Galleries in the Cuba Quarter, Wellington. Kerrie and I go back a long way, having first met in the early ’80s. Anyone who was around at that time will remember the fashion cult that was Svelt. Also in the Cuba Quarter, this boutique was, in the words of Kerrie’s then-partner, Di Jennings, “Outrageous.”
I remember tumbling into Svelt’s magical world like Alice through the Looking Glass. With its interiors swathed in metres of cream satin, it was like being inside a chic circus tent. Handcrafted garments were displayed like precious artworks. They were too expensive for my purse at that time, but I could just touch the fabrics or try the dresses on and imagine
