Raggamuffin: Designs strike a chord

BRAND DEBUT: Matthew TePaea (left) with friend Luke Avelva unveil a new clothing brand at Raggamuffin this weekend. PHOTO/BEN FRASER 310114BF11

Raggamuffin has opened a store of opportunities for Matthew TePaea.

Mr TePaea has travelled from Australia's Gold Coast to promote his new clothing brand at the two-day festival, which kicked off yesterday at the Rotorua International Stadium. He is selling items from his sports and streetwear brand G-Graffix and said the journey to get there had been worth it.

"We've had nothing but positive responses so far, people have been really supportive and have really liked our designs, which is awesome," he said.

The brand was made to cater for Polynesians and Maori and Raggamuffin was the perfect place to reach this market, Mr TePaea said.

"It's a brand purely for them and this is a huge opportunity to showcase our brand and our designs."

Mr TePaea has been passionate about designing clothes since he was young and said he felt lucky to be able to sell his designs.

"It's really cool, it's cool being able to talk to the customers and see their reactions and sit back and enjoy the music too."

Mr TePaea has high hopes this weekend and hopes to see his designs sell out.

"I don't want to bring anything back to Australia, the less luggage the better."

This is Mr TePaea's first time attending Raggamuffin.

"It's something pretty special."