Boutique designer tells the story of 1980s Wellington fashion
By Ian Wards, Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington Senior Curator (Taonga) | October 22, 2024
The story of one boutique designer, who tapped into 1980s zeitgeist, illustrates Wellington Polytechnic’s textile and industrial design school’s massive impact on the capital city over many decades.
Wellington Museum recently collected a selection of clothing made by boutique Wellington manufacturer and retailer Leod Hais. This collection is not yet on display. Businessman Peter MacLeod bought Superstud Menswear on Manners Street in 1979. Rebranding to Leod Hais, after the Gaelic name for his home island of Lewis (Eilean Leòdhais, in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides), he teamed up with Lesley Melody, a recent graduate of Wellington Polytechnic’s clothing and textile design school, and from 1982 their business flourished.
With a new logo designed by another Wellington Polytechnic student, Wayne Gillies, MacLeod and Melody were making and selling 100% Leod Hais branded garments within a year.
Initially their shop’s window dressing was done by Ross Duggan and other graduates of Wellington Polytech’s industrial design school before they introduced mannequins which allowed Leod Hais people to dress their shop’s windows.
Focusing on menswear initially, their inspiration was the 1980s zeitgeist. Post-punk music and magazines, LP album covers, music videos, customers returning from overseas plus the style they saw happening on Wellington’s streets.
A number of young designers from Wellington Polytechnic passed through their studio and workshop. Leod Hais clothing was always a collaboration, with input from designers, sales staff and customers. Peter and Lesley were also able to draw on a network of established Wellington clothing industry allies like suit-makers, and small, cut, make and trim manufacturers.
They started a wholesale operation selling to well known shops in Auckland, Hamilton and Dunedin. This lasted hardly a year as costs of financing this, together with slow payments, made it too difficult and detracted from their own business.
Women’s wear was soon added, quickly becoming half their business with many women still having a Leod Hais blouse or a dress in their wardrobe today.
Lesley recalls that Wellington’s main shopping district had a special vibe in the 1980s. Late night shopping only happened on Fridays. This saw young revellers dropping in to Leod Hais while making their way from work on Lambton Quay to the pubs, clubs and restaurants of Te Aro and Courtenay Place.
Leod Hais became well known for making a quality classic product that outlasted seasons – good textiles, with inventive finishing. Within a few years they expanded to stores in Auckland and Christchurch.
Peter and Lesley were fortunate to have some great characters managing and selling in their stores. These staff did their best to make a scene for a community whose fashion and lifestyle gaze looked towards London, New York, Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles.
Sourcing fabric was their biggest challenge, as international travel was very expensive in the 1980s so they had to be inventive with the fabrics they could find. These might be end-runs from major clothing manufacturers in Europe, imported by New Zealand-based wholesalers, or they might import fabrics themselves, directly from Germany.
Running a small scale, low-capital business was always a seat-of-the-pants operation, but their small clothing runs lent Leod Hais the air of a bespoke clothing maker, rather than a store selling racks of the same garment in the same fabric.
By the late 1980s, the removal of import tariffs and sales taxes saw a flood of cheap goods imported to New Zealand. The younger end of their target age group was also now looking for more casual, lower-priced clothes, and soon Rip Curl, Billabong and others came to New Zealand offering a style of clothing that Peter and Lesley were not interested in making.
These factors combined to affect boutique retail manufacturers like Leod Hais, which closed its doors in 1995.
The Leod Hais garments that Wellington Museum has acquired, show fascinating innovation and quality have stood the test of time. These garments are a testament to the high-quality fabrics, manufacture, and attention to detail for which those involved with Leod Hais can be justifiably proud.