Indigenous fashion house delighted with new sponsor partner

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Indigenous fashion house delighted with new sponsor partner - NZ Post

Upon announcing a sponsorship relationship with New Zealand Post, Ata Te Kanawa, co-founder of the Indigenous Māori Fashion Apparel Board Miromoda, says “We’re rapt with the sponsorship which I believe heralds a strong community spirit and a gesture of mutual support that reflects an exciting new, New Zealand.”

Te Kanawa credits the founder of NZ Fashion Week, Dame Pieter Stewart with being the catalyst to Miromoda’s annual Showcase at NZ Fashion Week. “Indigenous fashion has not been an easy concept to communicate, so having the support of Dame Pieter from the outset and now a huge corporate like New Zealand Post validates the purpose of Miromoda since it founded in 2008,” she says.

Since its inception, New Zealand Post has reflected the times in its uniform choices, from sturdy woollen suits and skirts, to the active wear of the 1980s and beyond. Its links to fashion will take another turn at New Zealand Fashion Week as the new naming rights sponsor for the New Zealand Post Miromoda Showcase on Thursday.

New Zealand Post Group General Manager, Customer Experience, Brand and People, Jo Avenell, says New Zealand Post is very proud to be supporting Miromoda and its designers. “Miromoda does a great job supporting emerging designers, and we can help them too, providing the logistics know-how to establish successful businesses of their own,” says Jo Avenell.

Additional Notes
Indigenous fashion in New Zealand, or at least what was recognised as Māori fashion, probably made its first appearance in mainstream circles in the early 1970s, when New Zealand’s longest serving female MP, Hon Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan used her political platform to make bold indigenous fashion statements with long kaftan dresses emblazoned with Māori iconology. She would be later joined by other Māori women of note including, the late Eva Rickard, Hana Jackson and more recently Dame Georgina Kirby. “As a politician, Whetu would easily communicate at least two of her passions, fashion and the distinction of her culture. Nelson Mandela also made the most of the political stage where his Afrikan printed shirts became his signature,” says Ata Te Kanawa.

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