Split Enz's Noel Crombie and Tim Finn reflect on the band's outlandish costumes in a new book, Split Enz: An Adventure in Music and Design, written with music journalist Michael Dwyer. The book traces the visual evolution of the New Zealand band, from their early 1970s beginnings as Split Ends to their 2026 reunion.
From zoot suits to clown makeup
The band's first coordinated costumes were the "zoot suits" in 1974. Crombie said: "The 'zoot suits' were the first band set of costumes that I came in with and said, 'Here's your stuff.' It was a total thing then. Up till then, it was bits and pieces. I think it was because once we were touring, it seemed logical for everyone to have something to wear. So I just made them."
The Clownz era of 1975 drew on commedia dell'arte and Joseph Grimaldi. Crombie said: "At art school, I became vaguely aware of commedia dell'arte. I saw a little picture of Joseph Grimaldi in the Harlequin costume, his hair in prongs. That settled somewhere into my brain. Clowns were more like social commentators then, not what clowning became in a circus context."
Punk-era looks and New Zealand identity
By 1976, the band were in London, near Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's Sex shop. Crombie recalled: "The Pistols would be walking down the road, or Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the Clash. All those people were hanging out. There'd be this classic English thing where they'd look you up and down, check your shoes and everything. It was like, 'Who the hell are these guys?' The punks didn't influence us specifically."
Tim Finn described the black tracksuits with silver ferns worn around 1977: "It was never like, 'Oh, aren't we great, we're New Zealanders, let's take New Zealand to the world.' It was just an identity thing – 'This is who we are' – and it did make us stand out."
Appliqué, curtains and Polynesian prints
Crombie explained the Black, White and Greys of 1978: "I was starting to look at appliqué as a means to putting patterns on things. I'd stick everything down and go over it with a zigzag stitch. I liked the fact that it gave just a subtle dimension."
The 1980 curtain suits came from a Melbourne shop: "I remember walking in and immediately thinking, 'Oh, shit, that's got potential.' These suits came together fairly quickly."
The 1982 Poly suits were based on Polynesian Tapa designs, except Tim's, which was a Māori print. Crombie said: "I wanted to say something about where we're from. I like the idea of reminding people that we come from this little Pacific island."
Scaling back and reuniting
Tim Finn said the makeup was reduced by the True Colours era: "It was torture on the face, getting it off afterwards, and then having skin problems, because we were wearing thick white greasepaint. Every pore would be clogged with this stuff."
The reunion suits of 2026 combine the 1977 Dizrythmia looks with an asymmetrical style. Crombie said: "I've started using an iPad to sketch the new cossies. I've also told the guys I'm not lugging them around this time."
