Suit, woman's

This stylish suit was designed by leading British couturier, Hardy Amies, and is an excellent example of his work, with its nipped-in waist, flared peplum (the fabric from the waistband), and beautifully tailored back. The soft pink colour of the suit was a popular shade at the time. 

Committed to Wool

Hardy Amies was a member of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers. Founded in 1942, the Society aimed to promote London as a fashion centre, and increase the prestige of British fashions and fabrics in national and international markets. To this end, the Society frequently worked with the International Wool Secretariat (IWS), which was founded in 1937 by wool growers in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to promote wool. The suit was sent to the New Zealand Wool Board by the IWS to be used in local wool promotions.

Mary Annette Burgess, who was the Wool Board's Promotions Officer from 1948 to 1956, used garments such as this suit in stage shows designed to ‘educate, promote and elevate wool as the greatest of fibres’. Mary Annette visited Britain in 1951. During her stay she attended a meeting of the Incorporated Society of London Fashion Designers, where she was able to describe her work to them. She also attended a range of  fashion shows, including one of Hardy Amies.

In her stage shows she frequently drew the audience's attention to the tailoring skills of British designers such as Hardy Amies and Digby Morton, and their use of British wools.

Amies once commented, ‘Such success as I have had has been due almost entirely to the successful handling of wool.’