Māori Fashion Designers, first Kiwis to show at Guangzhou Fashion Week China thanks to the support of Poutama Trust.
Designer Kiri Nathan created an initiative to take Māori fashion designers to China. This first of its kind idea was to share all her industry contacts and resources with selected Māori Fashion designers and create an intensive 8 day programme to exponentially grow their businesses.
The NZ Fashion industry is and has been dominated by approximately 10 fashion labels for the last 20-30yrs, none of which operate from a Māori perspective. The effect this has on emerging Māori designers, is the pressure to conform to a generationally set culture.
This culture is not one that genuinely supports their fellow Kiwi designer, rather it holds tight to its networks and resources in the fear that another designer will steal their tiny market share.
“I wanted to have a crack at changing the current NZ fashion culture, so I started by identifying Māori fashion designers that were known for their talent, integrity, work ethic and most importantly they were known to be good humans! Once my proposal was prepared I sent it out to every organisation and network I could think of for support”, says Kiri Nathan.
ATEED’s Pam Ford was the first to jump on board, she invited the Māori fashion roopu to join their tripartite business delegation hosted by the Mayor of Guangzhou China. Her team, headed by Steven Echlich worked closely with Kiri building opportunities for the designers to network with Chinese businesses, traders and delegates. This space resulted in many exciting outcomes. They also created a stunning runway at the infamous Oriental Mandarin Hotel, where the designers showcased for the Mayor of Guangzhou, the Mayor of Auckland, delegates from China, Los Angeles, Auckland and a full capacity ballroom.
Poutama Trust immediately recognised the potential for Māori business growth and confirmed their support, making it possible for Kiri to get the initiative over the line. Many hours of administration and correspondence from Jeanna Love, Missy Armstrong and the Poutama team went into making this dream a reality.
Lastly, MFAT (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and the Consul-General Guangzhou, Rachel Maidment who has previously been part of the Poutama team added their support. They funded a runway showing for all five Māori Fashion Designers at Guangzhou Fashion Week SS2018. Rachel’s 2IC Emma Hodder, pushed hours of work into creating a full media coverage of the Kiwi designers as well as meet and greets with both New Zealand and Chinese based businesses establishing relationships to support the growth of Māori Fashion and trade between the two countries.
Guangzhou Fashion Week SS 2018 – Kiwi designers showing
Richard Dunsheath of NZTE made introductions to freight and logistics leaders giving the designers a thorough knowledge of import, export and trade between NZ and China.
New Zealand’s leading Māori Fashion Photographer and good friend of Kiri, Damien Nikora was in Guangzhou on business. To Tautoko the initiative and designers, he shot a full Fashion Campaign and video in a 300yr old village that has literally been built around in the middle of the bustling city of Guangzhou. One of the many organic and instrumental moments that made for a once in a lifetime experience.
“The mission was always to make an example of how genuinely sharing information, resources and networks for our wider fashion community, ultimately creates further global reach and extensive market growth. This initiative is a tiny step toward a change in our current business culture, this is not only a Māori perspective, this is a human perspective and good business! One lifts…we all lift,” says Kiri Nathan.
The Māori Fashion Designers who participated were Adrienne Whitewood of Rotorua, Mitchell Vincent of Hamilton, DMONIC Intent of Auckland and Naked Empire of Auckland. All stated this was a life changing experience for them, both professionally and personally. Further initiatives and collaborative movements have been established to continue the business growth and expand the reach to more Māori designers.
“Two shows, a photoshoot, countless go sees and appointments in 7 days was a life time experience I’ll never forget! I am incredibly grateful for this trip and all the contacts we made, the people we met helped me broaden my horizons for my business and having the opportunity to network with Kiri Nathan was gold as well as Mitchell Vincent and Dmonic Intent. It was great to see where others were at, as we never have the time to do these kinds of trips with a group. It was so valuable and didn’t feel so scary as part of a group! I was able to see a broader vision of what was possible in order to set targets and realistic units in my business. This trip and learning opened my business scope to the fabric and trim buying markets, how it works, what international prices look like and how this could benefit my business.” Adrienne Whitewood
“The fabric markets in Guangzhou were something that I never thought I’d be able to experience. The fabrics and textiles available were limitless, if you could dream it; you would find it or have it made. Our trip to the manufactures was eye opening. The standard in their workroom was impeccable. We visited both a Knit manufacture and a Woven manufacture which was epic. Nothing was left out. We even covered the screen printers and a textile printing manufacture. Each conference we attended was very informative, especially learning the habits of the China retail market with 80% of the population being e-commerce driven and most payments are made direct from their We Chat accounts. I’m still so happy from the whole experience and I feel like it has breathed new life into my business model but also me as a business owner.” Mitchell Vincent
“Meeting all the people that in some way, shape or form had a hand in us being able to travel to China. Members from the NZ Consulate, the Chinese Consulate, ATEED, MFAT, Poutama Trust and of course – Auckland Mayor Phil Goff. Visiting and meeting with the clothing manufacturers and being able to see first hand how they run things and discuss how to do business with them. Being able to show as part of Guangzhou Fashion Week was an experience of a lifetime.” Maxine Woodridge – DMONIC INTENT
“Visiting the Fabric Market! I did not anticipate the scale of the market and the resources available to us. Our de-brief meeting at the NZ Consulate with members from Mainfreight and local businesses was extremely informative and probably one of the greatest pieces of information I learnt while there. The fact that we did an off-the-cuff photoshoot with NZ photographer Damien Nikora in an area that included a 300 year old temple, using local models and being surrounded by locals of the area – we did it!! It was the most amazing time ever. An experience I’ll never forget. I’ll definitely be implementing everything we learned in order to get the label to that next level.” Kris Leitch – Naked Empire
Click on all the links in the article to see footage of some of their experiences from the trip.
