5 Local Fashion Events To Have On Your Radar

As we near the end of the year, Aotearoa’s emerging fashion community is experiencing a surge of energy. Here are five events to bookmark in your calendars.

Platform Fundraiser

A collective of artists and designers have donated a wide variety of goods for a raffle fundraiser, run by Platform, a collective of jewellery designers. All funds raised from the raffle, which will reward more than 40 winners, will be donated to the Kiwi Trust For Palestinian Children Relief.

The raffle prizes include everything from tattoo vouchers to art pieces to clothing and accessories.

Keen fashion fans will be excited to see layers from The Keep’s Lela Jacobs, knitwear from Kongcore and Goldi, sleeves from Hannah-Lee Jade, a necklace from Orswo, sterling silver from jewellers Chyna-Lily Tjauw Rawlinson and Shannen Young and a tattoo voucher from Barby World (which recently collaborated with Crushes to screenprint on deadstock vintage tees).

Tickets for the fundraiser are available for purchase now and entries will close on October 31.

Slug Pop-Up

Cuba St, Wellington, will host an exciting gathering of fashion designers and artists this November, providing an excellent opportunity to shop local, small businesses ahead of the holiday season.

The event will go beyond ready-to-wear clothing too, with beachy pieces by wetsuit purveyors Cold Wave, bottled scents from Of Body’s Mt Cook laboratory, limited-run art books by Black Wax Press and a medley of New Zealand-made accessories.

Designer Julia Palm, of slow fashion label JPalm, is organising the event. It will open on November 7 and run until November 21 at 30 Cuba St, Wellington.

Iterations of this Pōneke pop-up have been running for a few years now. It’s a great chance to roam Aotearoa’s creative community in person.

Caitlin Snell’s ‘The Maiden’ Runway Show & Exhibition

While the reign of bows spanned international bounds in 2023, emerging designer Caitlin Snell hasplayed a role in asserting their frill locally.

The Auckland-based designer, who handmakes structured, high-quality bows from deadstock and secondhand materials, has developed a recognisable aesthetic. The standout hair accessory has been sewn into the fabric of New Zealand fashion; Viva also spotted plenty of bows clipped into the hairstyles of attendees at the Kahuria: New Zealand Fashion Week 2023 and Caitlin has also had exciting collaborations with other emerging names such as Baobei and more established brands like Twenty-seven Names. In recent collections, Caitlin has also included clothing pieces (think wrap skirts embellished with cartoonish daisies).

Building on this growth, the designer has announced a debut runway and exhibition show called “The Maiden”. In an announcement, Caitlin said the show would explore “divine feminine energy” and imagine what it might mean to “embrace your inner Maiden”. The designer will collaborate with Chyna-Lily Tjauw Rawlinson, the emerging jeweller behind Chills – the two previously collaborated to create a cutesy collection of bow charms.

The Maiden will be held at Ponsonby Road’s Studio Toi Tū on November 10. Doors will open at 10.45am and the show will start at 11am. The event is unticketed, so you’ll want to arrive early – attendance is free.

‘Final Notice’ Fashion Show

This December, Wellington’s young fashion community will gather again for a farewell to 2024 with “Final Notice”. The fashion show, organised by some of the leaders of “As We Watch The World Go By” and designers from youth-focused fashion week Te Wiki Āhua O Aotearoa, aims to take a journey “through Wellington’s current challenges”.

The show will bring together seven designers from across the country, including Finn Mora-Hill of Fringes Garments, Milan Jeon, James Warrender, Henry Calkin and emerging brands Chivalry Road, Foolish and Dira Dis Ultra.

These designers and brands have been instrumental to the parade of youth fashion shows around the country this year, so “Final Notice” will be an exciting finale for the group. The organisers have also mandated a slightly gothic dress code: All must come wearing black (and dressed to impress).

Tickets start from $22.20 and are on sale now. The show will commence at 8pm, with doors opening at 6.30pm, on December 7 at 107 Cuba St.

Voyage Art Show

Rumblings of an “immersive art show” called Voyage have begun to circulate online, with vivid and fashion-focused visualisers alluding to an upcoming event that will platform Pasifika creativity.

“Voyage takes us on a journey through indigenous creativity and expression, channelled through the arts,” reads one of the promotional posts.

The show will be curated by creatives Isla Potini and Norman Liana, who both danced and modelled for Āhua. The organisers, busy with an open casting for models earlier this week, have yet to confirm a date for the event. They promise tickets will be available soon, so watch this space.

Madeleine Crutchley is a multimedia journalist for Viva and premium lifestyle and entertainment at The New Zealand Herald. She covers stories relating to fashion, culture and food and drink, from her hometown of Auckland. Recently, she’s written about fashion design in the climate emergency, emerging jewellery designers and future forecasting at fashion schools.

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