Arab chic from Taupo at $250,000 a pop

Peter Loughlin, pictured with model Priya Sharma, has a loyal following among the Middle Eastern elite. Picture / Paul Estcourt

It's a long way from running around barefoot on a Taupo marae to dressing the world's elite in Dubai.

But Peter Loughlin's fascination with dresses, born of sitting on his grandmother's knee as she stitched together garments on a Singer sewing machine, has led him to become a fashion leader in the emirate.

For his work, the 52-year-old has been named Outstanding Maori Business Leader for 2005 by the University of Auckland Business School.

In the early 1980s Mr Loughlin, of Ngati Tuwharetoa, went on his OE after gaining a fashion degree from Wellington Polytechnic.

He eventually settled in the Gulf and today he sells evening-wear and wedding dresses to Arab royalty and the wives and daughters of Middle Eastern business tycoons.

The garments can each fetch up to $200,000, but Mr Loughlin says he has topped $250,000 on one occasion.

About 250 people from the fashion industry and corporate New Zealand turned up to toast his success in central Auckland and to see some of his most luxurious creations being modelled.

Mr Loughlin and his French-born wife, Mireille, employ 400 staff in their company, House of Arushi. Staff are split between offices and factories in the United Arab Emirates and Mumbai in India.

The quietly spoken designer describes his international success as being down to luck, rather than talent.

"It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time."

But he attributes his loyal following among the Arab elite to deciding to stick around during the height of the 1991 Gulf War, while other businesses chose to flee.

Mr Loughlin also says his understated, discreet personality appeals to the Arabs.

He describes the world fashion industry as fickle, but feels privileged to work in a part of the world where fabrics, cuts and glamorous colours are valued by clients.

"They want to be different. They only ever want an exclusive piece, the only one on the planet."

His take on the fashion sense of New Zealanders?

"The fashion here is dynamic. I love the edgy look here, it's such an individual look. Far different from Australia and Europe."

He adds that our men on the street need "some work", although New Zealand women have excellent style.

And the whanau in Taupo?

"They don't know what fashion is, they're all about comfort - Jandals, shorts and track suits.

"There's nothing wrong with that, not at all."