Return of the tie

At last count, Matt Wiseman had 258 ties. Hanging among them are three 70s originals in burgundy, the colour for winter 2025, a discovery he’s pretty chuffed about.

Ties were the most popular accessory worn at Paris Fashion Week in January, including for women, especially at Saint Laurent. Wiseman’s partner Rose Jackson is already planning to rock out some of his 70s ties this winter.

For Wiseman, wearing a tie is a point of difference as well as a sign of rebellion.

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“Guys who wear ties now are saying I’m not part of that gang; I’m part of my own thing. Rather than being conformist, it’s being non-conformist.”

Wiseman, the co-owner of national thrift and antique store guide Collectors Anonymous, dates his fascination with ties back to his childhood. When he was 10, his father took him to see Sean Connery in the James Bond film Dr. No. “I thought, that's a well-dressed guy and he had some very plain ties, but they all worked together with his outfit.”

He's amassed most of his collection in the past 18 months, boosted by discovering outstanding vintage ties in thrift stores for $2-$5 a pop. It’s a long way from when he worked in London and regularly bought pricey new silk ties from luxury store Harvey Nichols, but as Wiseman has discovered it enables you to get a lot of them. And “because so many of them are made here it’s preserving a piece of New Zealand history”.

Wiseman stores his ties on hangers across three different wardrobes in the Mt Eden home he shares with Jackson. They’re grouped into club ties, weddings and funerals, disco (1970s), “burning giraffe” (inspired by the surrealist Salvador Dali painting “because it’s very confusing with what’s going in these ties”), stripes, and a 90s collection of mostly Italian ties - think bold Gianni Versace, Moschino and Fornasetti neckpieces emblazoned with sun motifs and gold chess pieces.

“I call it Disney because they are all kind of cartoony, though Rose calls them Eurotrash,” he laughs.

What he looks for in a tie is balance. The design needs to work in the space that it’s given. And when Wiseman finds a tie that speaks to him, “it feels peaceful”.

“I know that sounds quite over the top, but I’m really aesthetically driven. I look at it and think ‘that’s beautiful’. It’s like looking at a beautifully designed car. That design and function.”

Treasures in his collection include a National Coal Board tie made in New Zealand by Eskay with an “S” symbol going up in flames. Most of the club ties in his collection have come from charity shops.

While he’s delighted that ties are making a comeback, he thinks most New Zealanders won’t adopt them because we’re a much less buttoned-up society.

“But I hope more do, because I think a tie looks great, and makes you feel good and walk taller,” he says.

“It’s one of the few things that men in the Western world can use to really lift an element of the clothing that they're wearing.”

Clare Bowden, founder of Wellington menswear store Mandatory, confirms that ties are having a more of a moment.

“There’s the less conventional guy who comes in rocking a vintage tie. A real statement piece. They’ve got a strong sense of what they like.”

She says the new coalition government is also influencing tie trends.

“I'm hearing people who work in various government departments saying, ‘I'm going to need ties’.”

Mandatory has stocked New Zealand-made Parisian ties for 27 years. John Crompton, a fourth generation tie maker at the company still crafting ties in the heart of Auckland, says a number of retail customers have commented that they are selling ties well.

“We've definitely seen a resurgence in interest in the tie from our customers,” says Crompton.

“What we’ve also noticed in the last 12 to 18 months is new and upcoming designers coming to us and saying, ‘can we do a tie?’.

Italian luxury fashion brand Bottega Veneta is also being credited with leather ties making a comeback. It harks back to the late 1980s, when Wiseman bought his first tie made of pale pink leather (he's not sad that it's missing from his current collection).

Auckland-based menswear label Porter James Sports is producing leather ties in blood red and black for its winter 2025 collection. The idea is to create depth of styling “with different textures dancing together” explains founder Joshua James Heare.

Parisian marked its 100th birthday in 2019 with a celebratory 1919 collection of statement ties that it’s still producing. The ties are made from ornate and luxurious silks that Crompton has hoarded over the years and held back because they were too flamboyant for the market at the time.

It’s also working on its latest Liberty range of superfine Egyptian cotton weave ties with pocket squares in complementary colours.

“What’s cool at the moment is not matching your pocket square to your tie. It’s got a colour reference but it’s not matchy-matchy,” says Crompton.

“Over the last 15 to 20 years, the tie has no longer been an obligatory item of clothing for the workplace. It's not that it's disappeared or that it's not relevant. It's just changed in its focus.

"Men that are wearing ties now, or people that are choosing to buy a tie, are really invested in that decision. Often, it’s for a special occasion or it's just a passion for neckwear and wearing ties.

"Consequently, we're always looking to create something that's got just that little bit of extra fabulousness about it because the people that are looking for a tie are looking for something a little bit special."