The Fashion World’s Much Needed Breath of Fresh Air - ‘Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa’
FEATURE | STYLE
Written by Paris Lloyd-Beere (she/her) | @parislloydbeere | Contributing Writer
In May, the announcement came that economic pressures and a lack of artists meant that New Zealand Fashion Week would be a no-go this year. Whether you’re a designer, model, reporter, a makeup artist, a photographer, or just someone who takes an interest in the fashion world, the cancellation of NZFW was a blow to every member of Aotearoa’s fashion community.
But, in classic kiwi ingenuity style, three young creatives have come to save the day and prove the weak reasoning behind the cancellation as complete bullshit, with Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa.
Āhua means form or shape in te reo and is synonymous with fashion, leaving us with the direct translation of New Zealand Fashion Week. With the current political state of our nation and the government blatantly gunning to erase te reo Māori, the Āhua team thought it “only fitting to call the week what it should have been from the beginning.”
Nina Bailey and Sophia (Fifi) Kwon were the original masterminds behind this entire idea, and Billy Blamires, who was a part of the ‘ROGUE’ show team last year, joined the project soon thereafter. When speaking with the team about the kaupapa behind the week, it was clear this was no accidental feat, but rather a movement aiming to cause a positive shift within fashion - politically and socially. Sophia mentioned a great point that “Throughout history, artists have always been at the forefront of change and resisting oppression. With the current social unrest, we as a community have never needed to show solidarity and resilience more,”. A space where budding designers know they are welcome, and are made to feel wanted and important, has been a missing cog in the fashion machine for a long time. First and foremost for those trying to make it in an industry that has shunned them, yes, but also for audiences. Seeing the same names over and over grows tiresome quickly. Fresh names, faces, and ideas on a large scale stage has been what Aotearoa has needed for longer than not. While there’s no question that everyone starts somewhere and a lot of those household names in fashion had to pay their dues to crack into the industry, it shouldn’t need to be so difficult. Plus, with a cost of living crisis and material costs at an all time high, that alone puts this generation of artists 10 steps behind where the OG’s started. Āhua is providing equal opportunity to get a foot in the door; no classist, cliquey undertones around here.
With the full five days of runways and exhibitions kicking off on kicking off at Raynham Park, 145 Karangahape Road on September 9th until September 13th, any attendee is guaranteed to be absolutely spoiled for choice. Similarly to the smash hit anti-fashion-week show ROGUE last year, Āhua is a step in the direction of change and much needed renewal in the fashion industry. Fresh ideas and radical inclusivity seem like a no-brainer, but really this event with these ideas has been a long time coming. Early career designers are often overlooked, and the industry focuses more on who’s already a big name rather than who is making the most innovative, interesting, sustainable pieces. Being a third year fashion student and having situated themself into the young-designer scene, Billy is no stranger to the struggles faced in the starting stages of a fashion career. “Despite being a small and tight knit community, there haven't been many opportunities for large scale collaborations where creativity isn’t restricted,” says Blamires. Nina carried on, “[... We want to] focus on promoting and platforming emerging and early career artists from all areas of the New Zealand creative scene.” In a day-and-age where “large corporations are unwilling to take risks [on early career artists],” this not-for-profit 5 days of design and jewellery goodness is set to showcase an exciting array of emerging and independent creatives.
Though it’s easy to, and in a lot of ways important to, get caught up on the gravity of the social and political stances being taken with Āhua, it’s important to not forget about the sheer excitement for the pieces and collections themselves. After all, they are the centrepoint of fashion. We can undoubtedly anticipate a wide variety of designs, styles, and 3 themed runways. The first runway, ‘Life Cycle of a Butterfly’ is set to showcase the “knitters, crocheters, upcyclers and all of the slow fashion designers.” The second, ‘Evil and Parties’ focuses on more alternative designers and styles, with some of the featuring artists described as punk, grungy, and taking an anti-fashion approach. Last but not least, ‘Boys Cry’ is all of the streetwear-style collections. And, if that somehow wasn’t to capture your attention, there will also be a jewellery exhibition featuring five up-and-coming jewellers - Babyhead , Evangelixer, Twosix, Platform, and my personal favourite of the bunch, One Flat Ring. On the event’s instagram, @ahuaaotearoa, you can already find some introductions to a few of the designers that audiences can expect to see, come showtime. Keep an eye on that same page for more info regarding ticket releases.
All money made from Āhua week will be sent directly to Gaza, to help in aid for the humanitarian crisis the Palestinian people are currently facing. If you are going to put your money anywhere, put it here. Young creatives are the biggest activist voices, and they deserve to be seen and heard. And, Palestine deserves to be free, so to have an event this scale focusing their support on this issue is cause enough to show up for them. Support not only your local creatives, but also the people who need it most right now in Palestine, both at once.
If you want to get involved with Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa, they are currently recruiting a whole bunch of people for different positions. Designers, photographers, videographers, models, musicians, dancers, graphic designers, writers, makeup artists, stylists. Whoever you are, chances are there’s a position for you to fill. The team says “Join us, in what we aim to make the biggest creative collaboration of New Zealand artists of this decade.” Contact them on their IG to see how you can help out.
This is something that can’t be missed. Whether you’re physically helping out in some capacity or just going to watch, make sure you’re there. Or sit at home and wish you were. But, I know where I’ll be.