Gordon Luke Clarke, also known as Luke, was a New Zealand fashion designer based in London during the 1970s. Clarke 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 ...

on 9 August 1945 to a Scottish father and

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

mother. At the age of 18, he went to work for the British couturier

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as a designer of ready-to-wear for five years, before going on a tour of India. He also worked for Valentino. On his return to London, he launched his ready-to-wear boutique Luke, on the King's Road, Chelsea. He also sold his clothing exclusively through

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in the United States in 1973, stating that although his work had been compared to

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, he felt it was more refined and had a more couture-like appearance. In 1978, along with a man's outfit by Cerruti, one of Clarke's womenswear ensembles was chosen by Barbara Griggs of the ''

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'' to represent the year in the

Fashion Museum, Bath The Fashion Museum (known before 2007 as the Museum of Costume) is housed in the Assembly Rooms in Bath, Somerset, England. The collection was started by Doris Langley Moore, who gave her collection of costumes to the city of Bath in 1963. The ...

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collection. Griggs considered Clarke to be one of the very few notable designers of the time, praising his ability to make attractive garments that followed the "big, baggy and bulky" multi-layered fashions of 1977–78. The ensemble she chose was a printed cotton tunic, skirt and leggings, worn in combination with a black leather skirt and coat, which represented Clark's focus on very simply shaped, versatile mix-and-match separates for the career woman.

References

1945 births Living people New Zealand fashion designers British fashion designers New Zealand Māori artists People from Auckland {{fashion-bio-stub