Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet | |
|---|---|
 L'Estrange-Corbet in 2014 | |
| Born | 1959or1960(age 62–63) |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Occupation(s) | Fashion designer and businesswoman |
| Known for | Founded WORLD |
Dame Denise Ann L'Estrange-Corbet DNZM (born 1959or1960) [1] is a New Zealand fashion designer and businesswoman. She founded WORLD, a fashion label, in 1989 with her then husband, Francis Hooper.
L'Estrange-Corbet published her autobiography, All That Glitters, in 2008, in which she discussed her childhood in London and her history of depression. [2] At the age of 3 her mother took her and her sister to England to escape an abusive alcoholic father, and she was raised in London. [3] She appeared in a Ministry of Health campaign aimed at reducing the stigma of suffering from depression. [1]
L'Estrange-Corbet and Francis Hooper are the parents of gossip columnist Pebbles Hooper. [4]
In 1995 WORLD's designs won the Avant Garde category at the Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Award, a $5000 prize. [3] In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, L'Estrange-Corbet was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), for services to fashion design. [5] She was promoted to Dame Companion (DNZM) of the same order in the 2018 New Year Honours, for services to fashion and the community. [1] [6] [7] [8] She won the Westpac New Zealand Women of Influence Award in 2017 in the category Art and Culture. [7] In 2015 WORLD became the first fashion brand to be endorsed by the United Nations. [3]
In May 2018, online news platform The Spinoff criticised L'Estrange-Corbet's brand WORLD for selling imported clothes with a label attached saying "Made in New Zealand" in French, after she herself had made frequent criticisms of labour conditions of imported products. [9] The brand had not been rated by TEAR Fund's labour standards ratings scheme because of the claim all the products were made in New Zealand. L'Estrange-Corbet defended WORLD's practices, calling the story "gutter journalism" and a "beat-up", [10] and saying that the "clothing tags that say 'Made in NZ' are made in NZ, so there is nothing misleading about this". [11]
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Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards was a New Zealand fashion competition that ran from 1964 to 1998. It was the country's major competitive fashion event during this period. The Awards' open entry format offered an opportunity for new fashion designers and manufacturers to showcase their work on a national platform. Prominent New Zealand fashion designers showcased their works at this event including Annie Bonza, Trish Gregory, Denise L'Estrange-Corbet and Isabelle Harris.
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