A collection of more than 150 nostalgic sporting ties from the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s is on display at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology’s Tauranga Campus.

The Graham Hausman Eskay Tie Collection features corporate ties worn by players, referees and team management during iconic sporting events and tours throughout New Zealand’s recent history.

This includes ties from the 1991 All Blacks tour of the British Isles, the All Blacks v South Africa series in 1992, several historic Bledisloe Cup matches and former Super 12 Rugby games and ties worn by New Zealand cricketing greats Sir Richard Hadlee, Gary Troup and John Wright.

Former Toi Ohomai staff member Jan Hausman recently gifted the ties to the institute’s creative department.

Her husband, Graham Hausman, designed and manufactured the ties at New Zealand clothing and accessories manufacturer Eskay from 1980 to 2004.

Sadly, Graham Hausman died in 2023, but through this collection, his legacy lives, says Toi Ohomai Creative Industries tutor Donna Dinsdale, who curated the display.

“It is clear that Graham’s work wasn’t just about creating beautiful designs; it was about preserving memories,” Dinsdale says.

“Many of Graham’s ties were donated to the Rugby Museum in Palmerston North and the Cricket Museum in Wellington.

The remaining ties, which Jan and Graham carefully stored for years, have kindly been gifted and entrusted to our creative department at Toi Ohomai."

Jan Hausman was on campus at Toi Ohomai when the exhibition opened on Monday, March 17.

She says working at Eskay for 25 years allowed her husband to combine his love of sport with creativity.

“While selling fashion and accessories to clothing retailers was the focus of his work, he also designed corporate ties for rugby clubs and cricket clubs and a smattering of golf, bowls, the New Zealand Police and World Cup organisations,” Hausman said.

“Graham enjoyed meeting with cricket players when they were planning special celebrations, called The Benefit Year, and arranged for the manufacture of their benefit ties. He particularly enjoyed designing the ‘100 Golden Ducks’ tie for pace bowler Danny Morrison.”