We take a look back at 25 years of storytelling and fashion shoots at Viva

Believe it or not, up until 1995 major cigarette brand Benson & Hedges was the naming rights sponsor for one of New Zealand’s biggest fashion events — the annual Benson & Hedges Fashion Design Awards. The televised event was a major occasion, offering a platform for aspiring designers to showcase their creativity on a national platform. After struggling to find sponsorship when it became the Smokefree Fashion Awards in 1995, it eventually folded in 1998.

That same year, Ginger Spice left the Spice Girls, James Cameron’s Titanic picked up Best Picture at the 70th Academy Awards, and French football player Zinedine Zidane scored two goals in France’s final game against Brazil, winning France the Fifa World Cup. It was also the year The New Zealand Herald launched Viva, a glamorous, uplifting celebration of creativity and culture, with a supporting tagline of ‘the good things in life’.

As an antidote to daily headlines, the mid-week treat has evolved over the years, dedicating its energy to documenting the changing seasons of our fashion landscape.

Above: Kaleb Orchard and Ashleigh Good, 2023.
Photo / Babiche Martens. Fashion director / Dan Ahwa

Viva’s fashion shoots have played a big part in this storytelling, capturing the mood of fashion and exploring the key trends that help shape the way we communicate through what we wear. Over the past 25 years, Viva has had the honour of collaborating with a range of brilliant creatives to take you on a journey around Aotearoa and even across the globe. “As an editor, the biggest joy is being able to work with such an incredibly talented array of writers, photographers and creatives who bring each page to life and who have added their magic to Viva along the way,” says managing editor Amanda Linnell.

This is an opportunity to say thank you to the leading and emerging talent we’ve been fortunate to collaborate with over the years, who have each lent their discerning eye to documenting fashion for the past 25 years in Viva.

Photographers — such as Babiche Martens, Carolyn Haslett, Mara Sommer, Derek Henderson, Yvonne Todd, Marissa Findlay, Russ Flatt, Rene Vaile, Terence Connors, Emma Anderson, Frances Carter, Karen Inderbitzen-Waller, Delphine Avril Planqueel, Tom Gould, James K. Lowe, Thistle Brown, Rebecca Zephyr Thomas, Veronica Crockford Pound, Joseph Griffen, Guy Coombes, Ben Clement, Dan Roberts, Steve Tilley, Scott Hardy, Greg Bowker, Dean Purcell, Hōne Naera-Scott, Karen Ishiguro, Daphne Nguyen, Amelia Dowd, Darren McDonald, Samiira Wali, Rob Tennent, Grace Gemuhluoglu, Geoffery Matautia, Matt Hurley, Mia Vinaccia, Nicole Brannen and Hōhua Ropate Kurene — have graced the pages of Viva with their art.

Fashion editors and stylists have also contributed to Viva’s distinctive point of view, and are integral to filtering the fashion offering out there, introducing us to new brands, and helping shape the zeitgeist of fashion at the time: Viva’s first fashion editor Ana McDonald, Victoria Harvey, Chloe Hill, Sammy Salsa, Danielle Clausen, Annabel Dickson, Tau Subritzky, Rosie Herdman and Courtney Joe.

“This is an opportunity to say thank you to the leading and emerging talent we’ve been fortunate to collaborate with over the years, and who have each lent their discerning eye in documenting fashion for the past 25 years in Viva.”

Here, we open up the vault to look back at some of those fashion shoot memories and take a look at how these timeless images continue to be a vital part of our fashion coverage at Viva.

Model Kelvin Konoplyasova at Mt Nicolas Farm, Queenstown, 2012. Photo / Babiche Martens

As Janet Frame once wrote, ‘how fat the bees are, how fat the bees are’. When it comes to documenting New Zealand creativity and design, there’s truly no place like home. New Zealand’s natural beauty has provided the perfect backdrop to some of Viva’s most timeless fashion shoots.

Celebrating the art of modest fashion, 2021. Photo / Samiira Wali

Who are we as a nation? So multilayered are we as people that it’s only natural that our diversity is reflected in what we choose to fashion our identities with on our backs. From the strength of our Pacific roots to the chosen families we have made, how we dress is a signal to others of who we are as people. Viva has documented the influence of queer and ballroom culture on fashion and acknowledged its significant contribution to shaping identities, along with celebrating and amplifying the voices of our rangatahi in the far North. Pride comes to play when we take on the precarious act of combining personal style with personal politics, guided by our collaborators, the inspiring subjects of these photographs.

The Berlin Beat: Techno subcultures and Run Lola Run references collide, 2019, Berlin. Photo / Ben Clement

Beyond our borders is a world we love to explore. Viva has taken you to far-flung destinations over the past 25 years, exploring everything from Berlin’s bustling techno scene to the serenity of a Japanese Zen garden. From meeting ex-pat New Zealanders to shooting a medley of New Zealand designs with a selection of fashion from each destination, our shoots abroad reflect the way New Zealanders love to mix local and international fashion into one standout look.

Model Kelvin wears a rose sweater in front of Peter Robinson, Painting Slogan One 1999, at Art + Object. Photo / Babiche Martens

Freedom of self-expression is a key part of what makes a Viva fashion shoot soar. From fashion inspired by art to the power of colour and print to uplift and offer a boost of confidence, anything goes. We celebrate personal identity every day at Viva and some of our favourite shoots have pushed the boundaries of taste along the way.

Cover of the Party Issue 2014, featuring Crystal Liu, Penny Pickard, Ngahuia Williams and Delphine Avril Planqueel. Photo / Mara Sommer

Viva has championed models and celebrated their success internationally, and was the first magazine to include models’ surnames in credits and to ensure they are involved in the conceptualising of a shoot from start to finish. Our fashion editors often have months of meetings with models and their agents to ensure exclusivity and to work with them to select teams they feel most comfortable with. Here is a small assortment of models and faces that have graced Viva’s pages of the past 25 years, in some cases, catapulting them into stardom.

Leading New Zealand model Ngahuia Williams has had a record number of Viva covers throughout her career — 15; while some have celebrated their first cover moments ever with Viva, including award-winning soprano Isabella Moore, and actor Roxie Mohebbi. What makes a Viva cover star special is star quality. Someone with a passion and interest beyond fashion, who has a creative point of view and who embodies Viva’s same lust for life.

New Zealand models have a point of difference — a diligent work ethic, down-to-earth spirit, terrific sense of humour, intelligence. Over the years, we’ve had the opportunity to celebrate and collaborate with a coterie of stylish faces who have taken New Zealand fashion and worn it their way.

Actor Frankie Adams, 2023. Photo / Hōhua Ropate Kurene

Famous faces and high-profile names have been welcomed into the Viva orbit over the years, collaborating with the Viva editors to capture them at pivotal moments in their careers. Fame isn’t necessarily a point of interest at Viva, but a sense of self and the ability to convey pure self-expression are traits that matter the most when we seek collaboration with the actors and musicians who have been captured through a Viva lens over the years. From Viva Magazine — Volume Seven guest editor Lorde, to cover stars Teeks and Marlon Williams, their perspectives have helped shape the cultural conversation.

Photo / Babiche Martens

What exactly is ‘glamour’? As we’ve explored over the years, those old-Hollywood tropes can indeed be challenged. Glamour comes in all shapes and sizes. It may be the glamour of modest fashion or the pumped-up throwback of 80s shoulder pads. Whatever your take on glamour is, one thing is certain — never mind the external joy of throwing on a fabulous gown or a piece of statement jewellery because, ultimately, what we’ve learned over the years is that glamour is about harnessing a sense of confidence and power within.

The cover of The Holiday Issue 2017, photographed at the Devonport Yacht Club. Photo / Babiche Martens

Tāmaki Makaurau has a rich historic heritage, and as the home base for Viva, we’ve documented fashion about town. From the lush grounds of the Domain to the historical site of Bastion Point, every shoot requires a dedicated effort to also celebrate Auckland in all its glory.

In some cases, it’s about remembering what came before, like the radical decision to photograph fashion in 2015 as The New Zealand Herald relocated from Albert Street to Graham Street. Running wild in the old newsroom before the building at 46 Albert Street was to be demolished, model Georgie Salmon was photographed everywhere from the old newsroom mailroom to the toilets, with their 70s faux marble.

From the art galleries of Karangahape Road to highlighting the classical architecture of some of our beloved heritage buildings, the nostalgia of Auckland from the past has also helped bring some of our most memorable fashion shoots to life.

The Drinks Issue, 2019. Photo / Babiche Martens

Part of living a celebratory life at Viva is looking at our diverse nightlife and celebrating the joy of going out. Whether it’s a party issue or a focus on what to wear for New Year’s Eve, we know full well the enjoyment of dressing up after dark.

In fact, in 2021, the entire issue of Viva Magazine — Volume Four was dedicated to our nightlife, prompting an inquiry into what this even meant during the pandemic. The desire to go out and dance again, to see friends, to dress up and have fun again was a sentiment that felt vital to the human experience at that time.

Over the years, we’ve looked at everything from what to wear to see our favourite bands, to club kid makeup, unpacking our progressive underground nightlife scene, and the irreverence and frivolity of tabloid fodder and social pages.