Protest, piupiu and politicians: Maori fashion designers bring the joy

2 weeks ago 3

At a time when New Zealand’s coalition government is rolling back a wave of policies supporting Māori rights, the power of fashion was more important than ever during a special showcase of Māori designers at New Zealand Fashion Week.

“I’m in a space where our current government has really lit a fire in my belly,” says designer Nichola Te Kiri, whose label KaistorSt opened the show.

Before a rapt audience, Te Kiri sent three members of the Māori Party down the runway as part of her showcase that paid tribute to the strength and resilience of wahine (Māori or Polynesian women).

Oriini Kaipara, Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi.

Broadcaster Oriini Kaipara glided down the runway evoking the image of Hine Tītama, the “dawn maiden” in Māori mythology.

New Zealand’s youngest MP Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke – who in November last year made global headlines for protesting the Treaty Principles Bill in parliament – followed in a gold taki tahi (woven) necklace and contemporary piupiu (traditional flax skirt) inspired braided wrap.

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, who in 2024 accused the government of embarking on a “mission to exterminate Māori”, completed the trio.

Te Kiri says having these three women accept her invitation to walk in the show was an emotional moment.

Te Kiri was one of six designers to present at Kahui Collective’s – a coalition of more than 40 Maori, Indigenous and Pasifika designers – inaugural New Zealand Fashion Week Show.

Using the motif of aprons, Te Kiri says the show was an homage to the important role of women in Maori culture.

“We can be these fierce, powerful beings in a parliamentary space, and yet we go home and we’re these nurturing mums or daughters or partners.”

But in the context of fashion week, “it’s actually less of a protest and more of a celebration,” she says.

Maori designer and entrepreneur Kiri Nathan opens the Kahui Collective show.

Kiri Nathan, one of the country’s most eminent Maori fashion designers and entrepreneurs, founded Kahui Collective in 2017 with the goal of fostering indigenous talent in an industry she says was siloed and closed-off to newcomers.

Having experienced the industry first-hand, she felt she had an important role to play in leading the collective. She hopes one day it will be just one pillar of an ecosystem of Kauri – an ecosystem of Maori designers.

“A lot of people are promoters, so they’re not fashion designers,” she says.

“People use Maori, Pasifika and Indigenous fashion designers to promote whatever their thing is, or be the entertainment with zero reciprocation and zero support, that’s just how it was.”

Since founding her label in 2010, Nathan has dressed global figures like Barack and Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Meghan Markle and in 2022, then-New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for the funeral of Elizabeth II.

In 2023, she became the first Māori designer to open NZFW since its first iteration in 2001. This year, an exhibition of her work stood at the front doors of Shed 10, where most of the week’s runway shows took place.

Jacob Coutie, who has been producing menswear under his label J’AKE since 2023, sent models down the runway in soft linen pieces and gumboots inspired by the workwear worn by the men he grew up with.

“When I first started designing, I wanted to make things I couldn’t find. That turned into a journey of realising there wasn’t really a space for a progression of menswear for Maori men, in a way that felt like it wasn’t dipping into just ordinary Western suits,” he says.

Producing the collection was a labour of love, with members of his community all coming together. His cousin created the woven hats, bags and skirts worn by models.

Menswear was particularly strong during the show, with Fijian designer Temesia Tuicaumia reimagining the suluvakataga, a traditional skirt for men, with sharp suiting and bold accessories.

“I’d see our work often seen as show-pony-esque, labelled ‘ethnic’ or ‘costume’ rather than recognised as fashion in its own right.”

Designer Czarina Wilson

Designer Czarina Wilson referenced her mixed cultural heritage, blending Monomono Pani (or bun quilting), a technique often used in Tongan communities, tartan, paisley, leather and denim to create something fresh and modern.

“This collection was a salute to the past, giving recognition to the line of women before me, not only my Tongan side, but also my Scottish and English heritage,” she says.

Her mother, who migrated from Tonga and worked in factories, was another core inspiration.

“The uniform of labour became a core childhood memory for me, and I wanted to reinterpret that garment as something powerful, a nod to survival and strength” she says.

While she says recognition for First Nations designers is growing – such as through Kahui Collective – there is still work to be done. She produced her collection on a minimal budget as she could not secure funding for the show.

“When I first entered the scene through competitions like Style Pasifika ... there were very few spaces where Pacific and Māori voices were centred outside those platforms. I’d see our work often seen as show-pony-esque, labelled ‘ethnic’ or ‘costume’ rather than recognised as fashion in its own right.”

“Showing at NZFW was about pushing that door wider – not only for the next generation, but also for the people here now.”

Like Te Kiri, Mitchell Vincent, who has been working in the industry for decades, his show – featuring brightly-coloured satin pieces made in Aotearoa – was also a celebration.

“For Teo Maori, we’ve had quite a rough past two years in the sense of a lot of changes in the air with government,” he says, adding gender-inclusive styles was a nod to the Takatāpui (LGBTQ community).

For Katherine Inder, whose elegant, body-inclusive collection of draped jersey gowns in a monochrome palette was a way of exploring her whakapapa (geneaology), debuting her label Katherine Anne at fashion week with Kahui Collective was a special moment.

“We’re not only representing culture; we’re also building businesses, growing futures, and holding space for one another in an industry that hasn’t always made room for us.”

“It showed that when we move together, we move further,” she says.

The author was a guest of New Zealand Fashion Week

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