Joanne's WORLD

Ko Joanne Kelly tōku ingoa
Nō Kirikiriroa ahau
Kei Rāhui Pōkeka ahau e noho ana
Ko Tainui ko barque Eleanor ko Te Arawa ōku waka
Ko Maungatautari ko Tapuariki  ko Tongariro ōku maunga
Ko Waihou ko Waikato ko Ohinemuri ōku awa
Ko Waikato-Tainui ko Raukawa ko Tūwharetoa ko 
Ngāti Wikitōria ko Pare-Hauraki ōku Iwi

Joanne - chris version

Personally:  Joanne was born in Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) and a person of this land, Pakeha and one sixteenth generation New Zealander of Māori descent.

Having represented Waikato in Netball, Rowing and Softball, Joanne excelled in sport and this drove her to be the best at whatever she put her mind to.

Joanne has come from both sides of the fence; growing up as a child and she has witnessed and experienced all different forms of colonisation and having to choose between māori or pakeha being one of her biggest challenges.

Growing up in Fairfield, Hamilton brings back many happy memories which drives her to give back to her community and help support the needs of young women.

Professionally:  Joanne was taught by her mother to sew at the age of 11 and she made her first garment, which was a colourful ladies evening jacket and was modelled at the Peachgrove Intermediate School Fashion Show in 1983 and went on to do her Diploma of Fashion Design & Practice and completed internships with the likes of Pattern Potentials, SAS Clothing, Trelise Cooper and was a finalist in Westfield Style Pacifica 2010 - Parent & Child Category.

Currently Joanne has been a designer for over nine years and has formed strong relationships with the manufacturers and suppliers who help her to create unique, hand-crafted garments.

Her life-long love affair with fashion has given her a sharp eye for immaculate tailoring, extravagant fabrics and flattering silhouettes.  She has an intuitive understanding of how women want to look and feel, and creates appealing designs that make women’s fashion dreams come true.  A woman who values quality, the exclusive allure of a Dora Joyce piece will be influenced and inspired by spirituality and a high level of detail.

Dora Joyce Limited:  What began as an idea to heal her oranga tinana (physical wellbeing), oranga whānau (family wellbeing) and oranga wairua (spiritual wellbeing), grew from a start up in her garage into her finally deciding to make the move through COVID19 and become self-employed. Her next step was then to start up her company called “Dora Joyce”, which is her grandmother’s name and was a big inspiration to Joanne growing up by introducing her to fashion.

Dora Joyce is owned by Joanne, who along with her two children Levi and Tori, live in the Waikato area, New Zealand.   She leads an incredible team of people who all love and live Fashion.

The Vision:  From the beginning, Joanne wanted to create unique elegant yet edgy one off (LIMITED EDITION) garments, relying on her intuition, a lot of hard work and her belief that she could make women’s lives better with fashion. Joanne knows better than anyone that anything can happen if you’re dressed to take on the world, show your “individuality” and wants all women to have the confidence to live their dreams too.

Whether she is turning her hand to traditional power suiting with Dora Joyce flair, unique coats or an artistic party dress with an embellished vintage feel, Joanne's emotional connection is real and expressed through these garments.

Colonisation:  Joanne grew up with the results of colonisation and this has driven her to express her experiences in her first winter range she calls “Colonisation”.

Dora Joyce “Colonisation” garments are reflections of some of those memories, thoughts, traumas and feelings which have helped inspire her to create this range. 

Inspiration comes from the designs through time and history that was New Zealand from the 1800’s to its modern times, these include, gathers, waist girdles, frocks, petticoats, large sleeve cuffs with roulee loops and are constructed from colours, like grey, pink, black and blood red.

The Path from Colonisation:  Joanne’s believes that her garments can help heal some of these past energies and she has chosen tools to help change this energy of "Colonisation".  Binding a taonga (treasured gift) within each unique garment to help shift energies and each taonga is blessed then handcrafted into the garment and is purposely placed near certain chakras that need this change in vibrational energy.

Whakatauakii (Proverb/significant saying)

“Mai i aku kākahu tui ka whakamihi ahau ki te wā ō mua, ka whakaohooho ai te wā nāianei, ka whakaora hoki i te wā heke!” - Joanne Kelly

“Through my fashion, I acknowledge my past, inspire the present and heal the future!”