‍This is the third in a series talking to queer fashion designers about their queer inspirations and the ways in which their relationship with queerness shapes their work; inspired by Aotearoa’s first Queer History Month. Read about creatives Angela Kong and Cecilia Kang here.

If there’s one thing I’ve never liked wearing, it’s my kitchen apron. What is there to love about a garment that’s synonymous with dishes in the sink? But for Dr Bobby Campbell Luke (Ngāti Ruanui, Taranaki), the apron is a symbol of the things he cherishes most deeply: whānau, Māoritanga and the subtle power of femininity. 

The academic, film maker and fashion designer and founder of the label Campbell Luke has recently returned to Tāmaki Makaurau, taking up a new position at AUT (he previously taught in the School of Design and Innovation at Victoria University). I catch him on a Friday in the office and ask him how it feels to be back.

“I'm just getting my groove back in Auckland,” he tells me, chuckling. “When we moved from Wellington, everyone was like, ‘really? Do you really wanna go back?’ But I actually think it's been the best thing I've done.”

Looking back has been a key theme for New Zealand’s queer community lately. July marked the country’s first Queer History Month, organised by Kawe Mahara – Queer Archives Aotearoa. Originally inspired by America’s LGBTQIA+ Month, which was established more than 20 years ago, the celebration aims to prompt much-needed conversations about the legacy of our nation’s queer pioneers.

Asking Bobby about his early memories, it’s clear that whānau and domestic life have been central to his design practice. As a child, it was bed linen that first inspired him to learn how to catwalk, blasting music samples from Remix magazine.

“I used to grab the fitted sheets,” he reminisces fondly, “and 'cause they had a gather around the edges, I used to drape myself in them.”

It was in his third year of fashion training at AUT that Bobby started to explore the influences of his upbringing, split between urban life in Auckland and time in rural Hāwera. 

“I started to look at different garments, or soft materials, that were quite important on the mārae.” It was the apron that stood out as “a piece of iconography”. 

“It’s been a symbol of a safe space for me growing up in the dining room,” says Bobby. “I'd be setting the table… doing all of the glasses… and I really liked it. There's a lot of masculine energy in our mārae, and I was always quite scared of [that].”

As one of only a handful of Māori students in his degree programme, it took time – and courage – for Bobby to bring his whakapapa to his design work. “Then I started learning about the different skirts that my aunties and my nannies would wear,” he remembers. “It’s very layered, the way I've come to where I'm at.”

Looking at recent collections, layering is a defining feature of Bobby’s label, Campbell Luke. Delicate bibs and intricate collars add an air of whimsy and nostalgia, the essences with which Bobby says he expresses his takatāpui identity.

“I think I’m just trying to capture the environment that made me feel safe as a queer person. I don't really have anything that completely identifies me as takatāpui… it's just become a part of the fabric or part of the layers imbued into one garment,” he says.

For Bobby, it’s this subtlety that gives his clothing power. But looking at the work of his new students at AUT, he’s inspired by the boldness with which they are harnessing their queer voices. “This generation is changing a whole lot of things,” he marvels.

As a teacher, Bobby says he sees new possibilities for fashion to become more interdisciplinary. His hope is that in “decompartmentalising everything” and looking at “different intersections”, people will experience a more inclusive way of working in the fashion industry.

“It may be a little bit convoluted – maybe a little bit hard to manage… but you know: more ingredients to make a bigger cake!”

When I ask what’s on the horizon for Bobby’s own design work, it turns out he’s cooking up some pretty big plans.

“I actually really want to write a book,” he tells me, shyly. “I keep saying it to myself and – oh my God, I'm saying it in an interview now!”

The idea was prompted by a lack of resources which document and celebrate Māori indigenous fashion. “​​If there's nothing around, well then that's something that I'd really love to do,” he tells me, inviting some “accountability” as we put this aspiration in print.

As someone who has always put his culture first, Bobby knows the challenges of championing Māori voices. But it’s clear that his self-reflexive ways of working will give more people a seat at the proverbial dining table.

“I would rather see less performative ways of working and see things that are more transformational… so people can have a voice in everything.”