Doris de Pont (born 1954) is a New Zealand fashion designer and director of the

New Zealand Fashion Museum The New Zealand Fashion Museum is a virtual fashion museum in New Zealand established in 2010. It was the brainchild of fashion designer and fashion historian Doris de Pont. Established as a charitable trust in January 2010, the museum holds "p ...

Early life and education

Doris de Pont was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand in 1954. Her parents emigrated to New Zealand around 1952 from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Her maternal grandfather was a tailor and owned the family clothing business: established in 1840. Her father's family made football boots and shoes. Both family businesses contributed to the textile industry in

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-larg ...

. de Pont started sewing at a young age and continued to sew while studying for a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and political studies at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

and completed her teacher training in the early-1970s.

Career

After her studies, de Pont worked as a teacher for several years before moving to the

, where she lived between 1978 and 1984. During this time she found work at the

Rudolf Steiner School Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skil ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, and also designed and made clothing as part of a women's fashion collective. After returning to New Zealand, de Pont met Jack and

Trelise Cooper Dame Trelise Pamela Cooper (née Neill; born ) is a fashion designer from New Zealand. Her designs have featured in magazines such as ''Vogue'', ''Marie Claire'', ''Women's Wear Daily'', ''InStyle'' and the television series ''Sex and the Ci ...

at a night class for pattern making at

Auckland Institute of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

. It was through this connection that de Pont acquired the lease for her first boutique situated at 13 O'Connell Street, Auckland. The shop opened in June 1985 and sold her designs under the label 'Design: Doris de Pont'. In 1994 she joined up with textile designer Adrienne Foote to establish the fashion label DNA which was sold in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Denmark. In 2002 de Pont and Foote parted ways and the DNA label became 'Doris de Pont'. de Pont was known particularly for her designs that incorporated the imagery of New Zealand artists including

Richard Killeen Richard John Killeen (born 1946) is a significant New Zealand painter, sculptor and digital artist. Biography Killeen was educated at the Elam School of Fine Arts, where his lecturers included Colin McCahon, before graduating in 1966. He has wo ...

and

John Pule John Puhiatau Pule (born 18 April 1962) is a Niuean artist, novelist and poet. The Queensland Art Gallery describes him as "one of the Pacific's most significant artists".

, and the New Zealand writer

Gregory O'Brien Gregory Leo O’Brien (born 1961) is a New Zealand poet, painter and editor. Life Born in Matamata in 1961, O'Brien trained as a journalist in Auckland and worked as a newspaper reporter in Northland. He graduated from the University of Auckl ...

. Items by de Pont are held in the collections of the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Aucklan ...

Te Papa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

. Retiring from fashion in 2008, de Pont undertook a BA (Honours) in Museum and Heritage Studies at the

, and after graduating founded the

where she is the director and curates exhibitions.

Publications

As a curator and fashion historian, de Pont is the author or editor of a number of publications and catalogues, including: * ''Looking terrific : the story of El Jay'', Auckland: Centre for New Zealand Art, Research and Discovery (University of Auckland) and the New Zealand Fashion Museum, 2010. * ''Black : the history of black in fashion, society and culture in New Zealand'', Auckland: Penguin Books, 2012. * ''Strands : weaving a new fabric'', Auckland: Objectspace, 2015. * ''Walk the walk : A history of fashion in the city'', Auckland: New Zealand Fashion Museum, 2017.

Awards and recognition

In 1990, Doris won the Hugh Wright Menswear Award at the

Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards was a New Zealand fashion competition that ran from 1964 to 1998. It was the country's major competitive fashion event during this period. The Awards' open entry format offered an opportunity for new fashion ...

. In 2013, de Pont was invested as an Officer 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 (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

for services to fashion. In 2019 de Pont was awarded a Museum Medal as a Companion of

in recognition of her achievements to the public service of Auckland Museu

References

External links

Interview with Doris du Pont on the Art Ache podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Pont, Doris 1954 births Living people University of Auckland alumni Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Auckland New Zealand fashion designers New Zealand women fashion designers New Zealand people of Dutch descent New Zealand curators New Zealand women curators