Denise L'Estrange-Corbet

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Dame
Denise L'Estrange-Corbet
DNZM
L'Estrange-Corbet in 2014
Born1959 or 1960 (age 63–64)
NationalityNew Zealander
Occupation(s)Fashion designer and businesswoman
Known forFounded WORLD

Dame Denise Ann L'Estrange-Corbet DNZM (born 1959 or 1960)[1] is a New Zealand fashion designer and businesswoman. She founded WORLD, a fashion label, in 1989 with her then husband, Francis Hooper.

Personal life[edit]

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]

Honours and awards[edit]

L'Estrange-Corbet with Francis Hooper at an investiture dinner in 2014, following Hooper's appointment as a MNZM

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]

Controversy[edit]

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]

Publications[edit]

  • L'Estrange-Corbet, Denise (2008). All That Glitters. Auckland, New Zealand: Random House New Zealand. ISBN 978-1869790424.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Mann, Britt (30 December 2017). "WORLD's Denise L'Estrange-Corbet made Dame Companion of The New Zealand Order of Merit". Stuff. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  2. ^ Mackay, Jenetta (17 January 2018). "Denise L'Estrange-Corbet Isn't Afraid to Make a Statement - Viva". www.viva.co.nz. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Theunissen, Matthew (30 December 2017). "New Year Honour: Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  4. ^ "12 Questions: Pebbles Hooper". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee honours list 2002". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 3 June 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  6. ^ "New Year honours list 2018". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 December 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Denise L'Estrange–Corbet". WOMAD. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  8. ^ "About the WORLD". WORLD. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. ^ Chapman, Madeleine (7 May 2018). "T-Shirts from Bangladesh. Sequin patches from China. Sold by WORLD as 'Made in New Zealand'". The Spinoff. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  10. ^ "'That's not me': Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet comes out swinging at 'misleading label' claims". Newshub. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Those WORLD T-shirts: Dame Denise L'Estrange-Corbet responds". The Spinoff. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
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