Polynesian designer showcases Pacific tapa cloth to the fashion world

Fit for a queen: The MASIOFO collection shows off one of the Pacific region's most unique fabrics, tapa cloth. Photo / Mike Mika Studio: Native HQ

A Polynesian designer has had his first collection - showcasing traditional tapa cloth - featured in one of the world's top fashion magazines.

New Zealand-born Samoan designer and stylist, Eric Blanc, has had his work highlighted in Vogue Italia.

The name of his collection - MASIOFO - is the Samoan word for queen and Blanc said he came up with it during the process of putting the piece together.

"The fabric has real significance. It was giving me real queen vibes, it was giving me regal, it was giving me strong, it was giving me powerful and it just hit me - MASIOFO is the collection."

MASIOFO is a collaboration with Brisbane couture designer Moreno Marcos.

Blanc, now based in Brisbane, credits the entire team behind the collection who believed in the concept in the first place and came together to bring this idea to life.

The MASIOFO collection. Photo / Mike Mika Studio: Native HQ

The collection is made up of traditional tapa cloth that holds great cultural significance due to its royal Pasefika background.

Blanc was inspired by the vintage collections of European fashion houses like Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen.

Inspired by a queen - mum

His strongest inspiration, however, was his mother; who was always dressed up and would style Blanc when he was a child.

Blanc acknowledges that MASIOFO's success is a part of the bigger picture and that they have helped pave the way for more Pasefika representation.

"I'm glad that it's contributed to pushing the Pacific market out there even more for people to see, because people are now asking questions like: 'What is this fabric? Where did it come from? How did you make it'?"

Now that Blanc has achieved this huge milestone in his career, he is feeling the pressure to figure out what is next.

"I still find it hard to explain the experience because at the same time I have the sense of achievement, but there's also a pressure to follow through with something creative or a body of work that people can appreciate as much as they did with the MASIOFO collection."