Limited free public admission to Miromoda Exhibition

29 Sept 2011

Limited free public admission to Miromoda Exhibition and Trade hall

Miromoda: The Indigenous Maori Fashion Apparel Board is hosting Miromoda Fashion Extravaganza this Friday at the TSB Arena, Wellington. This glamorous event is proudly part of the REAL New Zealand Festival that runs alongside Rugby World Cup. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the planned matinee catwalk show has been cancelled, but the evening catwalk show will go ahead as planned.

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“Having two catwalk shows on one day is typical of fashion festivals or fashion weeks and that’s ideally what we wanted for Wellington, especially following the success of our showcase at NZ Fashion Week a few weeks ago. But there is an upside to the change that we’re excited about and I’m sure the general public and our many visitors will appreciate,” says Miromoda Project Manager Ata Te Kanawa.

Due to huge public interest in a one-off exhibition of traditional Maori cloaks, or kakahu, that includes the stunning work of five weavers, across four generations from renown New Zealand weaving family (Hetet-Te Kanawa) Miromoda organisers have agreed to allow free public access to the exhibition at the TSB Arena between 12noon and 4.30pm, before the evening catwalk show opens at 5pm. The exhibition of kakahu in the Miromoda Fashion Extravaganza celebrates the connection and contrast of traditional and contemporary Maori fashion.

People will also be able to wander through the art, craft and fashion trade stands where some holders are selling one-off fashion items. This designated Trade Area will feature items from the catwalk alongside high-end fashion related Maori products for sale. Maori and contemporary music will fuse the components of the event and VIP corporate tables will serve Maori infused food platters with wine from Maori owned-winery, Tohu.

Te Kanawa says the French name Hetet is synonymous to the Maori family of weavers and with the French team and its heavy presence of supporters arriving in the capital for the rugby this weekend, it has added a degree of romance.“We will have two translators on hand to explain the art of traditional Maori weaving and I’m sure the French will be interested in how the legacy of the Hetet name is very much in profile in New Zealand as well as, the beauty of works of themselves,” says Te Kanawa. Ludovious Hetet was a French whaler who married Rangituatahi, the daughter of a Ngati Maniapoto chief in the mid 1840s. The couple had three sons and one daughter of which many descendants remain and are concentrated in the King Country area.

The evening catwalk show will feature 10 top Maori fashion designers and models, six of whom showed at NZ Fashion Week. These include overall Miromoda winner Adrienne Whitewood from Rotorua, Auckland label Dmonic Intent and Whiri from New Plymouth. Adding to the mix is the new Wellington label Hermione Flynn and the Hutchinson Sisters from Auckland.Australian-based Miromoda designers, Blair Archibald (Melbourne) and Tara Warren (Brisbane) will also show their capsule collections and there’s a welcome return of Titahi based designer Wiremu Barriball, his stock of shoes, pressure tees and laser engraved leather accessories. Having opened his own store ‘Revolution Aotearoa’ in Porirua’s North City Plaza, Barriball has extended his range of designs to include a new rugby boot that is bound to create interest.

Project Coordinator Terina Cowan says there will be the usual element of surprise for a Miromoda event and hinted at a high profile rugby player in the line-up of male models alongside Wellington Bachelor of the year Daley Tapa and runner-up Alistair Boyd. Pre-show hosting venues have been organised as either VIP or GLAM packages and cameo appearances of players from any of the four Rugby World Cup 2011 teams scheduled for the double whammy rugby weekend which sees France play Tonga and NZ All Blacks vs Canada are being talked up as being “very possible” at the Miromoda office.

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“Obviously, international guests, corporate and dignitaries will have a different expectation of the VIP packages than the ‘chicky babes’ who will most likely book Glam tickets for the glass of complimentary bubbles at any of the six inner city bars and within walking distance to the venue,” says Cowan. As well as girlfriends forming groups to have the ‘perfect girl outing’, Cowan says a ticket to Miromoda is probably a good leveraging tool for men who want a trade-off for blokes-only rugby and beer sessions.

The audience of more than 1200 quests will be made up of members of the public, national and international corporate representatives, VIP guests, dignitaries and media. “We want people to experience the hype and glam of a fashion event with red carpet, photographers, beautiful people in beautiful clothes, and the effervescence of indigenous fashion in a contemporary context,” claims Cowan

Ticket packages are available from http://premier.ticketek.co.nz/shows/show.aspx?sh=MIROMODA11#.ToEeR3O6Rt8

ENDS