New Zealand creative blends te ao Māori with global design in new carpet range

Designer Arnya Karaitiana.

• Arnya Karaitiana has partnered with Milliken to create a carpet collection integrating te ao Māori into design.
• The collection, inspired by the harakeke (flax plant), focuses on storytelling and the Māori philosophy of wellbeing (hauora).
• The collaboration emphasises authentic engagement and protection of Māori intellectual property, providing royalty benefits to artists.

Designer Arnya Karaitiana has partnered with global design and manufacturing firm Milliken to create a new carpet collection that integrates te ao Māori into contemporary interior design.

Karaitiana’s latest project, an intricately designed range of carpets inspired by the harakeke (flax plant), is more than just a commercial venture. It is an act of storytelling, a reclamation of space and a bridge between te ao Māori and the global interior design industry.

At the heart of the designs lies the concept of hauora, the Māori philosophy of wellbeing.

Through the protection of Māori IP (intellectual property), Karaitiana (Rangitāne, Ngāti Ranginui, Te Arawa) is on a mission to transform the physical spaces we inhabit – offices, homes and public buildings – into environments that nurture and reflect the interconnectedness of tangata, whenua and tradition.

For Karaitiana, design has become a vessel for whakapapa, a means of embedding mātauranga Māori into contemporary spaces. The “Pā Harakeke”, a metaphorical and literal reference to the flax plant, was an important resource for Māori and became a natural inspiration for her latest work.

“In te ao Māori, the harakeke plant is a powerful symbol of whānau and wellbeing. At its core, te rito is the new shoot, representing the tamariki [children],” she said.

Designer Arnya Karaitiana and James Mfula from Milliken.

“The surrounding layers of leaves [awhi rito] are the parents, while the outer leaves [tūpuna] represent ancestors. This symbolic structure aligns with the Māori worldview of collective wellbeing; when rito is nurtured, the whānau thrives.”

This concept guided Karaitiana’s design approach, ensuring that her work was not just visually appealing but also resonant with tikanga and whakapapa.

“Too often, indigenous design elements are incorporated into commercial products without proper consultation. This collaboration with Milliken was centred around our stories and is part of their Reconciliation Through Design initiative, which seeks to approach partnerships with indigenous people authentically, while also providing royalty benefits to ‘artists’,” she said.

As part of the collaboration process, Milliken’s leadership team travelled to Te Puia and the New Zealand Māori Arts & Crafts Institute, immersing themselves in the cultural processes of Māori artistry. Here, they observed traditional stories and the practice and talents of the practitioners at the New Zealand Māori Arts & Crafts Institute.

For Karaitiana, this level of engagement was critical.

“It’s not just about taking Māori patterns and putting them on a product,” she explains.

“It’s about understanding the whakapapa behind them, why they exist, what they mean, and how they contribute to the wellbeing of people and spaces.”

Milliken creative director James Mfula is pleased with the partnership.

“We deeply value this partnership with Arnya, because of her powerful artistic voice and commitment to preserving her unique take on this collection, it was crucial for us to keep Arnya’s ‘handwriting’ in the final product and honour her integrity and vision. We are extremely proud to be partnered with Arnya on this collection.”