Vinka Dragica Lucas (née Ravlich / Ravlić; 1 January 1932 – 10 August 2020) was a New Zealand fashion and bridalwear designer, business owner and co-founder of ''New Zealand Bride'' magazine.

Early life

Lucas was born in

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, in the village of Kozica near the

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. While growing up there, she learned the traditional local skills of needlework and embroidery, and later moved to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

to learn cutting and design at the Academy of Dress & Design. In 1951, aged 15, Lucas moved to New Zealand to live with her sister in Northland. Despite having limited English, she worked in her sister's general store in the small town of

Maungatapere Maungatapere is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. State Highway 14 runs through it. Whangārei is 11 km to the east, and Tangiteroria is 18 km to the south west. The settlement takes its name from a rounded volcanic peak of the ...

. In 1955 she moved to

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and started working in the fabric department of department store Price & Dempster. She became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1959.

Career

In 1959 Lucas and her husband David Lucas bought a fashion and dressmaking business in

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; they renamed it Maree de Maru (meaning "Marriage of the Brides" in Croatian) and turned it into a bridalwear store. In 1962 the couple opened a store in

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, Auckland, and in 1966 moved it to the city's busiest street, Queen Street. Over the next few years, Lucas opened four more fashion stores on Queen Street: Modern Bride, which sold a simpler range of bridalwear than Maree de Maru; Buttons Galore, for trimmings and accessories; Stanton Silks, which sold exclusively imported fabrics; and Vinka Lucas After 5, for cocktail and evening wear. In 1963, the couple published a booklet of bridal designs, which later grew into the magazine ''New Zealand Bride''. David Lucas was managing editor and art director, while Vinka Lucas organised shoots and was fashion director. In the 1980s, Lucas branched out into the Middle Eastern market; in partnership with a local sheikh, Sheikh Abbas Filamban, she opened a salon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and another in

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. In the same decade, Lucas won two major achievements: showing a collection at the London Fashion Olympics in 1980; and winning the international fashion competition run by the Association of Voralberger Embroiderers of Austria.

Later life, death and legacy

In 2009, Lucas suffered a stroke and retired; her daughter Anita Turner-Williams took over and continued running the business, under the names Vinka Design and Vinka Brides. In 2017, a Vinka Lucas-designed dress was discovered in a bag of clothes donated to a hospice charity shop in Auckland. The shop gave the dress to the

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, which placed it on display. A number of Lucas' sewing patterns are in the collection of

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 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 ...

. In the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 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 ...

, Lucas 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 ...

, for services to the fashion industry and design. She died in Auckland on 10 August 2020, aged 88 years; her funeral notice advised mourners, "Vinka's standard of dress mandatory".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Vinka 1932 births 2020 deaths Wedding dress designers New Zealand fashion designers New Zealand women fashion designers 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Yugoslav emigrants to New Zealand Croatian emigrants to New Zealand Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit People from Split-Dalmatia County Croatian women fashion designers Naturalised citizens of New Zealand New Zealand businesspeople in retailing