Dr Nick Lewis (with Wendy Larner & Richard Le Heron)
School of Geography and Environmental Science
University of Auckland
n.lewis@auckland.ac.nz
TBA
New Zealand Designer Fashion: Governmentalities of an Industry in the Making
Creative Industries have recently emerged as an explicit focus of governmental attention in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This paper focuses on designer fashion as an 'industry in the making' in the context of a new phase of neo-liberalism. We argue that 'new economy' discourses have specific inflections in New Zealand because of the emphasis on small and medium enterprises, the active involvement of the 'competition state' in economic activity, and more general efforts to establish a 'post-colonial' economic formation. We also identify new forms of expertise, including 'cosmopolitan entrepreneurs' who use their membership of social networks to leverage new economic opportunities. We then focus on the various discourses and practices through which these policy and industry entrepreneurs are attempting to de-link designer fashion from the clothing and textiles industry.
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