Karel Adriaens Director Cotura Fashions

Cotura Fashions

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Everybody had their own market and customers so there was not that hefty competition at that stage from outside New Zealand.

Karel Adriaens

The Rag Trade

Before clothing manufacture largely moved to Asia, Christchurch was considered the center of the New Zealand clothing industry, with firms such as LWR Industries.

In the 1980s, Christchurch industry had to adapt to the deregulation of the economy and the opening of New Zealand markets to imports. Several large firms or enterprises either closed down completely or were ‘down-sized’. They included the railway workshops, the Crown Crystal glass works in Hornby, and two large clothing manufacturers, Lane Walker Rudkin and Lichfield Shirts.

  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection
  • Photo from Karel Adriaens Collection

Building information

119 - 121 Lichfield St
24 Bedford Row