June 25, 2019
Hong Kong the oyster for Aotearoa designers
Six Māori and Pacific fashion designers and artists are off to showcase their collections at Hong Kong Fashion Week.
The trip is funded by the University of Auckland's North Asia Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence as part of its strategy to develop opportunities and export capability for Māori and Pacific enterprise in creative industries.
Established and emerging designers Kiri Nathan, Shona Tawhiao, Lindah Lepou, Nichola Te Kiri, Bobby Campbell-Luke and Mitchell Vincent will open the week at the Lumiere Show.
Tania Rupapera from Oyster Workshops, who has been coaching the designers, says they hope to line up customers and investors.
"You know we're there to do business, we're there to build relationships, we're there to impress them with the styles of the designers and the collections and to have our cultures represented, and also to show we're capable to deliver on order and to build that export pathway for doing business," she says.
If any large orders are landed, Oyster Workshops will help put the structures in place to deliver.
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