Long-term resident Murray Crane, who has just announced he will be taking over the space soon to be vacated by Ruby, remembers when the strip was a premiere “fashion district”. Where did the designers go?
Step into a time machine, because High St holds a history of New Zealand fashion
worth pounding the pavement for.
It is where Barbara Herrick operated the first workroom for her label Babs Radon, creating elegant and structured womenswear for the post-war period. It is where the Pasifika Clothing Company sought entrance to “fashion’s geographic and symbolic heart”. It is where World first built a following in the 1990s, with slogan T-shirts and brightly coloured denim – a launchpad that eventually led World, with Zambesi, NOM*d and Karen Walker, to London Fashion Week for a formative fashion show.
“It was the boutique part of town, with New Zealand designers, in an era when New Zealand design had its heyday,” says designer and fashion historian Doris de Pont (ONZM), who also took up residence in the district in 1985, with a store on O’Connell St. At the time, de Pont counted doyenne Adrienne Winkelmann and glamourpuss Kevin Berkahn as neighbours.
In 2026, fashion still asserts a strong presence in the High St district. Crane Brothers is steadfast, and neighbours other menswear retailers including Edit and Strangely Normal. Tatty’s and Emporio U retail vintage, designer and second-hand clothing. Loaded offers streetwear and Pieces curates international designers.
Ruby will close its store on Auckland’s High St after 24 years.
General manager Emily Miller-Sharma has cited several reasons for the farewell, including the small size of the store, a decrease in foot traffic and concerns around staff safety. Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Miller-Sharma also raised issue with landlords who were “holding” onto empty properties, rather than filling them.
“It just absolutely makes no sense to me. If those spaces were occupied with creative people, the re-invigoration of the city would just be so much quicker.”
Suzanna, a tailor working in the basement level Looksmart, says there is still a buzzing fashion scene on High St. Looksmart is kept busy with menswear, second-hand clothing and garments bought online. Clothing from surrounding retailers, including Tatty’s and 3 Wise Men is often dropped off for adjustment and mending.
However, other local labels have left their homes on High St, in search of locations better suited to a new era in New Zealand fashion.
Commercial Bay has welcomed the shift of both Juliette Hogan and Zambesi. World, Karen Walker and Trelise Cooper have moved to Britomart. Street Life’s Chris Cherry shifted focus to Workshop in Newmarket and Ponsonby.
Founder of the New Zealand Fashion Museum, Doris de Pont (ONZM). Photo / Felix Jackson
De Pont says these changes are reflective of Auckland’s growing sprawl. While there have been shifts downtown, independent labels have also made Grey Lynn, Karangahape Rd, Ponsonby and Newmarket their home.
“I suppose that’s the evolution of the city.”
She theorises that changing shopping habits and routines within the High St district have had an effect.
“I don’t know if people go shopping anymore. I think [fewer] people work in the city as well. In their lunchtimes, they’re not popping into little shops and boutiques.”
De Pont also highlights the impacts of seismic shifts in the global fashion and manufacturing industry.
There’s the proliferation of online shopping, acceleration of ultra-fast fashion production, increasing difficulties of manufacturing clothing in Aotearoa New Zealand and the opportunity in digitally focused, direct-to-consumer models for local labels. Increasingly, consumers in New Zealand are able to engage with a world of clothing where they are at the centre, rather than visiting central fashion destinations.
Murray Crane at Crane Brothers in High St in October 2005. Photo / Kenny Rodger
Murray Crane, who has been in residence on High St for 25 years, also sees these impacts.
“There’s been a fundamental shift in the way that people buy fashion … When High St was kind of at its peak in the fashion district, we didn’t have those threats. We didn’t have international retailers, online retail, all nipping at the heels.”
However, despite also opening a new location in Ponsonby last year, he is certain High St is the right location for his suit and menswear offerings at Crane Brothers. Crane says he understands the safety issues raised by Ruby, but says incidents for Crane Brothers are rare.
“We’re very close to our core customer base, which is working professionals and independent business owners, so we feel like that’s very much where we need to be.”
Last year, Crane extended the lease at his current premises by 25 years. This April, he’ll give the High St another vote of confidence.
The Crane Brothers will expand next door into the space left vacant by Ruby, adding a new dimension to the experience of his customers on High St (he says there will be more focus placed on categories like knit and footwear). Crane is convinced High St is making an upwards swing.
“It’s still got a little way to go, I think, until we’re back at full capacity … but we’re definitely through the worst of it. We’re definitely on the front foot moving forward, which is positive.”
Developments on High St are set to continue. Auckland Council is currently reflecting on community suggestions for its future – so far, these have included an increase in community spaces, more space for walking and an increase in small, independent businesses.
Unity Books is among the independent boutiques based on High St. Photo / Rebecca Zephyr Thomas
De Pont says there is still a lot to celebrate on High St, including the community gathering space of the Ellen Melville Centre (when Viva visits, Freyberg Square is full of families participating in The 7th Kids Japanese Festival).
As he’s looking to make one of his own, Crane welcomes the changes.
“It’s kind of like an outdoor mall in a way. You’ve got that real kind of diversity of business, whether it’s coffee, food, bookshops, fashion, optical retailers, a little bit of vintage, tech. Which I think is, in some ways, more interesting.”
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