There are two interesting heritage talks this month in the lead up to the Annual General Meeting of the Central Otago Heritage Trust.

Dunedin-based fashion guru Dr Jane Malthus will share insights into the book that showcased Eden Hore’s glamours gowns, on November 12 at Central Stories.

The book Central Otago Couture: The Eden Hore Collection was published in March this year and has sold so well it is being reprinted.

The talk will feature a combination of biography and narratives by Jane and Claire Regnault, to learn about how the book came to fruition, and to share some of Eden’s interesting stories in the life he led in the Maniototo.

Jane described Eden as a quietly spoken farmer, and someone brave enough to be himself.

She said he embodied and boldly defied the stereotype of the ‘Southern Man,’ confidently forging his own idiosyncratic path through life. 

“He was an entrepreneur, really. In addition to having a keen interest in New Zealand high fashion, he wanted the collection to bring tourists to Naseby. 

“The book demonstrates the inextricable link between Eden, his fashion collection and the Central Otago landscape he so loved, and where he lived his entire life.”

The late Eden Hore - still being talked about in both fashion and heritage circles. FILE SHOT

The process for writing the book started in 2023 and involved interviewing relatives of Eden Hore, his neighbours as well as other farmers in the district.

“There was information from all over. Everyone had a story about going to visit his museum,” Jane said.

“But it was hard to get any one truth, there were so many strands.”

COHT will also hold a second heritage talk on November 26 on Rich history – Central Otago’s historical gold mine, with the AGM to follow straight after.

Author Sophie Rogers will talk about how a high school research project became a historical romance novel. 

She will discuss what she discovered about Chinese-European relationships and marriages during Otago’s goldrush era. 

Sophie will also talk about where she sourced her information, and the challenges of weighing historical accuracy with entertaining fiction, plus the process of turning it into a novel.

She published her first book, Nightshades and Paperwhites, in 2022 and is currently working on the sequel.

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