Furs in early twentieth-century New Zealand: ecology, war and fashion to the 1930s

ABSTRACT The First World War was a complex moment in the history of dress and garment manufacture. Materials and textile production were diverted largely to war manufacturing, and the meanings of clothing became caught up in particular notions of loyalty and patriotism. One change in dress that has received little attention was the growth of the fur garment and trim industry in these years of fashion austerity. New Zealand provides a fascinating case study of the blossoming of the ‘new world’ fur trade and garment industry from 1914 because, despite its small size and remoteness from Britain and Europe, it became an important player in the international fur trade and the democratization of fur that occurred in these years. This article examines three facets of New Zealand’s fur trade that illuminate the complex forces of war, ecology, and the meanings of buying and wearing clothing in this particular trade at this particular time.