Chrissy O at Hunters and Collectors Photo: supplied
Listen
Hunters and Collectors in Pōneke remains the first vintage clothing store in the capital.
Owner and founder Chrissy O has Just turned 70, and is known for her flame-coloured hair and parade of remarkable vintage ensembles and spectacles, Chrissy O is herself a true avant garde style icon.
A creative Cuba Street institution known for handpicked vintage designer brands, support of artists and an ever-evolving series of art installations in the window, the shop is “all about attitude and strength and uniqueness and difference, not a square, white box," she told RNZ’s Culture 101.
Photo: @lucyrevillnz
Turning up for the interview in vintage Vivienne Westwood, she said the late British designer was a personal style hero.
“I discovered her in the ‘80s when I went to London, and I knew Alannah (Currie) from the Thompson Twins. And I went to her house, and she had this amazing wardrobe, and it was all totally full of Vivienne Westwood.”
Vintage is everywhere now, but the word is a little devalued, she said.
“Well, vintage is just 10 years now, But for me, vintage is something from a time before, I do sell things from the 2000s as well, but it has become much more common, whereas it always had a sense of uniqueness and rarity, and now it can be just clothes from the 2000s and there'll be many of them.”
Long before online browsing she and her partner used to rummage in London markets for their stock, she said.
“Mike [Zero] and I got on a plane and went to London and went to the markets and decided that we would afford invest and buy leather jackets.
“So we had amazing things that you just couldn't find here, and you would only get it if you went overseas, because you couldn't online buy.”
Chrissy O in the RNZ studios wearing a Vivienne Westwood pink tartan dress suit. Photo: Mark Amery
The leather jacket was quite the thing in the 1980s, she said, not so much now.
“At that time I loved it, because it was the lifestyle, it's not just a fashion item, It was what all the punks wore, it was what all the rockers wore.
"Musicians, people in the advertising industry were into it, you showed what music you were into, what lifestyle you led.”
She retains a love for leather, she said.
“I do love leather. I love the power of it.”
Behind the front desk at Hunters and Collectors you will find a quote from Oscar Wilde: “One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art.” and with manager Charlotte Hall and other collaborators, the store itself could be called a work of art.
The eclectic gallery in the shop provides a home for the work of all manner of unique visual artists. Currently showing is Soft Signal, the first solo show of Wellington based artist Mia McIvor.
“I really appreciate it, because I get to meet so many amazing young people, and it keeps me on the money about what is the modern thought about art, or just the way of viewing the world, and hanging out with younger people I really value that.”
Photo: Mark Amery