After a four-year hiatus, New Zealand fashion week: Kahuria returned in 2023 with a focus on local Māori talent. The five-day event, which ran from 29 August to 2 September in Auckland, marked a clear shift from previous years, with many Indigenous designers holding standalone shows and a Māori designer launching the event in a first for the New Zealand fashion week.
This year’s fashion week was also the first in partnership with local tangata whenua group Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei (the ‘people of the land’ of central Auckland), who gifted the name Kahuria (which translates to ‘to put on clothes’) to the event.
Words by Chloe Hill
Main image: A model walks the runway during the Kiri Nathan show. The designer was the first-ever Māori designer to open New Zealand fashion week. Photograph: Mackenzie Sweetnam/Getty Images for NZFW
Sun 3 Sep 2023 23.15 EDT Last modified on Tue 5 Sep 2023 18.55 EDT
As the first-ever Māori designer to open New Zealand fashion week, Kiri Nathan marked the milestone by acknowledging the broader Māori creative community. The designer filled the front row with Māori artists and invited them to walk the runway in the show’s finale.
In a powerful moment during Kiri Nathan’s show, the audience was played a 2021 audio excerpt from Māori MP Rawiri Waititi where he challenged the parliament chamber’s dress code. Shortly after, the Te Pāti Māori party co-leader walked the runway to enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
The majority of pieces from Campbell Luke’s showing were made from upcycled materials, demonstrating founder Bobby Campbell Luke’s ability to intertwine sustainable practices with a design narrative rooted in te ao Māori (Māori worldview and values). Tablecloths, floral duvets and repurposed lace were among the many items given a second life.
Graduate shows are always a highlight of New Zealand fashion week. Despite the country’s small population there is a strong contingent of design institutions and emerging brands, with this year’s show featuring works from Massey University, Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design and Otago Polytechnic.
The Next Gen runway was another showcase of emerging New Zealand fashion talent. Sandra Tupu of Flying Fox Clothing, one of the six designers selected, sent models in wool-panelled menswear down the runway, referencing the nostalgia and practicality of the local wool industry.
In her first-ever New Zealand show, African Australian designer Harriet Banda-Zwaan of Bantu made the trip from Perth to showcase her colourful Australian-made designs.
Kate Sylvester celebrated 30 years of her eponymous label with a show that epitomised the designer’s aesthetic over three decades. The show culminated with Sylvester’s husband and business partner Wayne Conroy surprising her on the runway with a bouquet of flowers.
The Pacific Fusion group show was a high-energy celebration of nine Indigenous designers including Peni Taehia, who sent dramatic printed looks and layers of cowrie shell accessories down the runway.
