Anges Loheni tells Viva about the influence of her heritage.
Inspired by the natural beauty of Polynesia and her Samoan heritage, Agnes Loheni is a quarter of the label Mena, which offers contemporary twists on the traditional - for winter, a focus on Polynesian prints and lace that draws on the traditional tatau. With her sisters Jackie, Gina and Charlene, she launched the label in 2002, naming it after their seamstress mother who had taught and encouraged her daughters to create their own clothes from a young age. Now selling into Samoa, Hawaii and Japan, Loheni, who focuses on the design side of the label, recently added textiles and soft furnishings to the Mena stable, including screen-printed and hand-blocked cushion covers and tablecloths. Loheni, who is based between NZ and Samoa, talks us through some of her favourite things, from the beauty of malu, the traditional tatau of the Samoan women, to an inherited baby blanket.
10 FAVOURITE THINGS
1. The malu
This is the traditional tatau of the Samoan woman. It starts from just below the knee up to the upper thigh. The design is typically finer and delicate than the male tatau version called pe'a. I think it looks both strong and feminine. Two of my sisters have a malu. I'm looking forward to getting mine done too.