The styling of the ad is perfect in every detail, right down to the chin-strap hat and cropped boots. This Courreges-style dress by Society Fashions, 1966, takes its cue from what was happening overseas. This was the first era when young women’s clothes were different from those worn by their mothers, and Society, along with Miss Deb and Arthur and Nancy Delaney, who made the American teen label Jonathan Logan here under license, was one of the first New Zealand clothing manufacturers to perceive the potential in this market. They wanted to appeal to teenagers and young women and the name referred to these women’s aspirations. The name Society Fashions was inspired by Bill and Maurice’s idea of social status. Maurice left to found Miss Deb, leaving Bill the sole owner of the new enterprise.

The cutters were installed in a bedroom, the buttonholer in the kitchen and the sitting room was transformed into a showroom. In 1961, Bill and Maurice went into partnership and started Society Fashions in an old house in Auckland’s Upper Queen Street. Seeking more security, he went to work for an importing firm, re-entering the rag-trade in the late 1950s as sales manager for the fashion manufacturing firm Parisian. From selling hats he moved on to selling coats, then dresses, his only income the commission he received on the garments he sold. His first brush with fashion came when he was taken on as a sales rep by an Auckland milliner.

He worked in various jobs including mining on the West coast and as a barman in the Onehunga Working Men’s Club in Auckland. He came to New Zealand in the course of his duties and liked the country so much he returned in 1947 to live here permanently.

Born in Wigan, Lancashire, Bill Hall served in the British Merchant Navy during World War Two.

90s high society magazine models