1980s kiwi designers - who was ROSARIA HALL?

Rosaria Hall pieces rarely become available! Unsurprising, given how modern they still seem - full of understated elegance and practicality, and made from beautiful fabrics.

Rosaria, originally from Ireland, got her start in fashion managing Miss Selfridge in Knightsbridge before moving to Christchurch with her kiwi husband. Otautahi was not exactly a fashion mecca in those days - most people made their own clothes - but she set up Renaissance, her first boutique in 1970 NzfashionmuseumNzfashionmuseum. The boutique also housed a record shop set up by her husband - a revolutionary, for the time, concept of music + fashion which attracted young people and was often still open at 11pm.

Initially, she made hippie styled, one off, embellished and handprinted designs, including jeans - for men, but by 1976 she was focused on womenswear and grew her staff to begin manufacturing and wholesaling.

By the 1980s, dawn of the yuppie movement, when the NZ garment industry was still protected from imports, she was flourishing -  wholesaling her designs across 26 New Zealand stockists, with another 98 on her waiting list. She was also selling from her own boutiques in Christchurch and Wellington (source - Dress Circle) . Sculptured leather jacket & skirt - New Zealand Fashion Museum.

Rosaria Hall moved to Wellington after marrying Remiro Bresolin in 1990, yes, the same charismatic Italian restaurateur Eighties Excess - New Zealand Fashion Museum. Remiro Bresolin was a legendary figure in Wellington's dining scene - he opened Il Casino on Tory Street in the 1970s, introducing Wellingtonians to authentic Italian cuisine at a time when olive oil could only be purchased from a pharmacy Qantas Travel InsiderStuff. Il Casino became "the byword for sophistication and decadence in the heady 1980s" and attracted celebrities.  Wellingtonian Interview: Leonardo Bresolin | Stuff.co.nz.

After their marriage, Rosaria became known as Rosaria Hall-Bresolin or Rosaria Bresolin-Hall, and established the Bresolini label alongside Rosaria Hall and Rosatti. 

The Bresolin family's influence on Wellington's dining scene continues today through Rosaria's step sons Leonardo and Lorenzo, who run several restaurants including Scopa Pizzeria. Meanwhile, Rosaria's fashion work is preserved in significant New Zealand cultural institutions, with Te Papa holding pieces by her in their collections.

We find pieces from Rosaria only infrequently, but when we do - we get very excited, and it's always a struggle to let them go! The photos in this article are of Rosaria Hall creations we've sold recently, for between $30 and $125

We currently only have the gorgeous white tank in stock - an absolute steal at $36! https://archival.co.nz/products/1990s-nz-vintage-rosaria-hall-white-sleeveless-tank-top-s?_pos=1&_sid=4a9083965&_ss=r