Kevin Berkahn

Kevin Berkahn was raised during the 1940s on a dairy farm near Dannevirke, and started making clothes for his sister and her friends as a teen. At the age of 17 he moved to Auckland to pursue his dreams of being a fashion designer. With a growing reputation for special occasion and bridal wear, Berkahn went into business for himself at the end of the 1950s, and attracted national attention with his entries in the New Zealand Gown of the Year.

By the time Eden Hore met Kevin Berkahn, he was a well-established designer, creating high fashion garments for society women and the Miss New Zealand pageant. He also had his eyes firmly on international success. In 1971 he organised ‘New Zealand’s World of Fashion’, a travelling fashion that toured Australia, USA and England with selection of couture and ready-to-wear by a range of designers. In 1973, Berkahn established a ‘swishy salon’ in Sydney, in anticipation of the impact that the new opera house would have on Sydney’s nightlife. As he remarked at the time, few people in New Zealand would ‘contemplate buying a long dress made of lace from Switzerland that cost $97 a yard, but it would sell in Australia’. He hadn’t, however, factored in Eden Hore! The collection has 35 Kevin Berkahn designs.