Gordon Luke Clarke, also known as Luke, was a New Zealand fashion designer based in London during the 1970s. Clarke was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

on 9 August 1945 to a Scottish father and Māori mother. At the age of 18, he went to work for the British couturier

Hardy Amies Sir Edwin Hardy Amies Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, KCVO (17 July 1909 – 5 March 2003) was a British fashion designer, founder of the Hardy Amies (fashion house), Hardy Amies label and a Royal Warrant holder as designer to El ...

as a designer of ready-to-wear for five years, before going on a tour of India. He also worked for Valentino. On his return to London, he launched his ready-to-wear boutique Luke, on the King's Road, Chelsea. He also sold his clothing exclusively through Bonwit Teller in the United States in 1973, stating that although his work had been compared to American sportswear, he felt it was more refined and had a more couture-like appearance. In 1978, along with a man's outfit by Cerruti, one of Clarke's womenswear ensembles was chosen by Barbara Griggs of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'' to represent the year in the Fashion Museum, Bath's Dress of the Year collection. Griggs considered Clarke to be one of the very few notable designers of the time, praising his ability to make attractive garments that followed the "big, baggy and bulky" multi-layered fashions of 1977–78. The ensemble she chose was a printed cotton tunic, skirt and leggings, worn in combination with a black leather skirt and coat, which represented Clark's focus on very simply shaped, versatile mix-and-match separates for the career woman.

References

1945 births Living people New Zealand fashion designers 20th-century British designers New Zealand Māori artists Designers from Auckland 20th-century New Zealand artists British fashion designers {{fashion-bio-stub