STORY
Lucie Boshier Boutique 2004-2006
After working for Haute Couture designer Patrick Steel for four years, I opened my first eponymous boutique in Kingsland, Auckland, New Zealand in 2004. I was inspired by 1950′s Paris, lingerie, and fantasy. The store was a tiny pink boutique with rosebud wallpaper, an old dressing table for a counter and a large luxurious fitting room. It was like stepping inside a sexy boudoir – the type of space you might imagine Brigitte Bardot posing in.
I made flirty circle skirts and fitted jackets with pompoms. It was the first boutique in New Zealand that offered a unique experience for women and it was our place to be unashamedly feminine.
I dipped my toe in the controversial world of fashion. I worked with models suffering from anorexia that had more insecurities and destructive body image issues than I could possibly ignore. I became frustrated with convention and decided to promote my clothes in a way that inspired me. My models were dancers and actresses and I preferred both their physique and their attitude.
By 2006 I had become interested in the hippie movement and the idea of liberation, free-love and awareness rocked my world. I closed my frilly pink boudoir and reopened my store in a large and raw space in New Zealand’s most recognized shopping district called Newmarket.
I named this new store my “Haven of Love”. The walls were painted entirely of psychedelic murals, and the center of the store featured a large running fountain. I revved up the sexy boudoir feel and the new fitting rooms were evocative of a 1960′s love-in. A handmade Indian rug in scarlet and ruby red lay out along the floor enclosed by heavy velvet drapes and mosaic mirror.
Lucie Boshier Store 2006-2009 'The Love Haven'
The hippie movement influenced me more than I expected. The clothing became more colorful, as did the publicity and soon the national media were watching and recording my every move. I shunned convention and in return received everything one might expect in doing so.
In 2008 celebrity photographer Norrie Montgomery invited me to contribute a regular blog for his website The A List – the go-to place for photos of the city’s social set. Uninspired by informing people what they should or should not wear, I decided to write about sex. Not surprisingly the media were delighted and seemed to both love and hate me simultaneously!
During a fashion and furniture collaboration with Urbis Magazine I designed a fashion installation taking inspiration from the red light district in vintage Amsterdam. Models became private escorts who led couples and singles through an erotic and playful installation – complete with red satin sheets, high-end sex toys and naughty dancing.
"Cabaret" Fashion Week 2008
I became inspired by vintage erotica and 1930′s prohibition and in 2008 my last New Zealand Fashion Week show was a sexy take on the 1960′s film Cabaret. Drag Queen, Beaver Brown, opened the show and introduced “his girls” (my models) and they writhed half-naked on the catwalk, smoked, and swigged from liquor flasks. They flirted, played and they left the audience nothing short of stunned.
In 2009 I yearned to be in a fashion capital – and more specifically I yearned to be in New York. The sheer size and diversity totally inspired me and it simply felt like home. With nothing holding me back I closed down my business, packed up my belongings and moved half way across the world with my chihuahua Pearl.
Over the past two years I have rested, moved cautiously and worked on various projects in fashion and art. In these very strange and unpredictable times of financial uncertainty I feel there is more reason for fantasy, comedy and glamour than ever before! I am working on a new collection of one-off pieces, please contact me for inquires.
