When the
2009 MAORI ART MARKet officially opens in
Porirua, near Wellington tonight, guests will get a sneak preview of the fashion show, which will be a daily feature of the market at 12.30 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Along with a number of contemporary Maori weavers,
the fashion show will include guest designer Dorothy Grant (USA/Canada) hot off the catwalks of New York Fashion Week; Patricia Michael from USA; and our very own
Suzanne Tamaki of the Native Sista’s Label, shown in these two images taken at the 2007 Maori Market fashion show.
Suzanne (Maniapoto, Tuhoe, Te Arawa), is
an Otaki-based fibre artist, who founded the Native Sista’s label. She was also a founding member of the Pacific Sisters fashion collective in the mid-1990s. Along with her fashion garments,
she also creates body adornment and jewellery
inspired by the legends and mythical creatures in the Pacific and the world of traditional indigenous costuming. The end results are dramatic and unique and it’s no surprise to learn that she’s scooped a number of awards and has exhibited her work nationally and internationally – including works in the 12th Sydney Biennale in 2000, the 1996 South Pacific Festival of Arts in Samoa and at Belau Museum during the 2004 South Pacific Arts Festival. Tamaki’s collection
Bi-Cultural Rap 2000 (first presented as a fashion show set to rap music) was purchased by the
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Visitors to this year’s Maori Art Market are in for a treat when
Native Sista’s take to the catwalk again.
www.maoriarts.org.nz
I photographed this wonderfully whimsical dress - made of plastic tiki - at last year's Ngai Tahu Huia-a-Tau, which was held at Puketeraki Marae at karitane, North of Dunedin. It was made by clothing designer, Amber Bridgman (Ngai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Waitaha, Rabuwai) for her entry into a national art-fashion award. Amber, who also designs her own range of jewellery, was last year invoted to present a collection of her garments at the prestigious New Zealand Fashion Week, after winning the tee-shirt design section of Miromoda, an annual Australasian fashion design competition based in Wellington. She produces and sells her garments under the label Kahuwai - garments inspired by traditional Maori designs and geared to babies, toddlers, all the way through to adults. www.kahuwai.co.nz 
