Dame Denise Ann L'Estrange-Corbet (born ) is a New Zealand

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

and businesswoman. She founded WORLD, a

fashion label Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

, in 1989 with her then husband, Francis Hooper.

Personal life

L'Estrange-Corbet published her autobiography, ''All That Glitters'', in 2008, in which she discussed her childhood in London and her history of depression. At the age of 3 her mother took her and her sister to England to escape an abusive alcoholic father, and she was raised in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She appeared in a

Ministry of Health Ministry of Health may refer to: Note: Italics indicate now-defunct ministries. * Ministry of Health (Argentina) * Ministry of Health (Armenia) * Australia: ** Ministry of Health (New South Wales) * Ministry of Health (The Bahamas) * Ministry of ...

campaign aimed at reducing the stigma of suffering from depression. L'Estrange-Corbet and Francis Hooper are the parents of gossip columnist Pebbles Hooper.

Honours and awards

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In 1995 WORLD's designs won the Avant Garde category at the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Award, a $5000 prize. In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, L'Estrange-Corbet was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

(MNZM), for services to fashion design. She was promoted to Dame Companion (DNZM) of the same order in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, for services to fashion and the community. She won the Westpac

New Zealand Women of Influence Award The New Zealand Women of Influence Awards are an annual set of awards which recognise women who make a difference to everyday New Zealanders' lives. The Awards were first made in 2013 and were initially sponsored by Westpac Bank. In 2016, Stuff N ...

in 2017 in the category Art and Culture. In 2015 WORLD became the first fashion brand to be endorsed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Controversy

In May 2018, online news platform ''The Spinoff'' criticised L'Estrange-Corbet's brand WORLD for selling imported clothes with a label attached saying "Made in New Zealand" in French, after she herself had made frequent criticisms of labour conditions of imported products. The brand had not been rated by TEAR Fund's labour standards ratings scheme because of the claim all the products were made in New Zealand. L'Estrange-Corbet defended WORLD's practices, calling the story "gutter journalism" and a "beat-up", and saying that the "clothing tags that say 'Made in NZ' are made in NZ, so there is nothing misleading about this".

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Estrange-Corbet, Denise Ann Living people Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand fashion designers New Zealand women fashion designers 20th-century New Zealand businesswomen 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople 21st-century New Zealand businesswomen 21st-century New Zealand businesspeople Dames Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Women of Influence Award recipients