Jacket, woman's (from wedding suit) 'Three Times A Lady'

This jacket is part of an outfit designed by Annie Bonza, a Wellington-born New Zealand fashion designer whose fashion career spans more than fifty years and three cities - Auckland, Sydney and Rarotonga.

Annie Bonza's fashions range from the offbeat to the elegant, her hallmarks being a love of decoration and a spectacular sense of colour.

This outfit was designed for a fashion shoot for Bride Groom, a New Zealand bridal magazine, in 1992. It is a very good example of an Annie Bonza 'Word Dress' - fashionable garments decorated with words and statements 'written' in braids of differing colours and widths. Annie made her 'Word' garments between the late 1980s and the early 1990s.

Early years
Catherine Ann Cole (later Annie Bonza) was born in Wellington in 1940 and grew up in Te Kuiti in New Zealand's North Island before moving to Auckland to pursue a career in fashion. Her professional career began in 1956 when she undertook a three year apprenticeship with the Auckland-based gown manufacturer, Chadwick Bray. This was followed by a design position with another Auckland gown manufacturer, Pour Vous.

The Sydney years
In 1961, Annie gained success at a major New Zealand fashion competition, the Golden Shears, being awarded a High Commendation by the judge, Sydney designer, Robert White. This encouraged her to try her luck abroad and, in 1963, she resigned her Pour Vous position to look for work as a fashion designer in Sydney. There she freelanced, doing work with Robert White and other Sydney designers and meeting the people who would influence her outlook and style. Most instrumental was her husband, the radical young artist, Michael (Mike) Brown. In this artistically charged environment, Annie began to design clothes for the younger set and to be creative in the way she decorated them. During her Sydney years, hand-painted clothes, which she sold under the label, Annie Bonza ('Bonza' being a nickname bestowed on her by Australian sculptor and friend, Robert Klippel), became one of her trademarks.

Auckland boutiques
By 1967, she had formally adopted the catchy surname Bonza and was back in Auckland, experimenting with screen-printing on textiles. There, in 1969, she opened her own boutique, Boutique 202, at 202 Jervois Road in Herne Bay. Boutique 202 was very successful and patronised by the young and hip, including New Zealand music stars such as Ray Columbus and the dancers (The Chicks) on the popular New Zealand music television show C'Mon. Annie soon opened another boutique, Annie Bonza Clothes, in Theatre Lane central Auckland, and her popularity grew.

Burnt out
In 1974, Annie Bonza won her first major award - the After Five section of the Benson Hedges Fashion Design Awards. But burnt out at age 34, she 'retired' to the countryside, to Waikino, where she lived as a hippie. However, eventually she tired of not being able to express her creativity through clothing design and came to the realisation that she was wasting her life.

The Cook Islands years
In 1977, a short holiday with a friend in Rarotonga led to an extended stay and Annie began to design clothes again, adjusting her style to the local and tourist markets. Between 1977 and 1984, she sold clothes through outlets such as Sene Souvenirs and a number of her own small boutiques, including one called Mekameka.

Auckland again
In 1984, she re-established herself in Auckland. In 1988, with a friend's financial backing, she opened a successful boutique in Jervois Road, not far from the site of her first boutique. From the late 1980s into the 1990s, Bonza's career and reputation blossomed. She received extensive media coverage, particularly in fashion spreads, won the Perrier Lifestyle Award at the 1989 Benson Hedges Fashion Design Awards, and received many high profile commissions.

The Cook Islands again
In 1996, Annie Bonza surrendered again to the pull of the Cook Islands, where she worked on private commissions and the occasional fashion event.