Maketū teen Wirinia Tapsell draws on checkpoint unity to create clothing brand

Maketū teenager Wirinia Tapsell has started her own clothing brand inspired by the lockdown checkpoints in the town.

Lockdown checkpoints in Maketū have inspired a clothing brand.

Maketū teenager Wirinia Tapsell was among the Maketū residents who helped out at the checkpoints set up during alert level 4 and has since used the experience to inspire her TŪ clothing brand.

''While the majority of the world and of the country were affected negatively, I felt and saw the positive impacts from Covid as I watched my community come closely together,'' she says.

The TŪ is not only the way locals refer to their home, the word can be translated from Māori to mean ''the stand''.

''In Maketū we were making this very stand, for the people, and for the land, to prevent the globally feared Covid from taking us out,'' says the 19-year-old.

''For me, I want meaning behind everything, and I was thinking 'where's this come from?' Well, it comes from Maketū - all the locals just call it 'The Tū' which actually means The Stand - that's exactly what I'm all about - and I came up with TŪ clothing.''

Wirinia says there was a lot of negativity about Covid-19 and some about the checkpoints,
too.

''But I loved waking up and going down to the checkpoints and I thought if we can take a stand against something so negative, then I want to do that for everything.''

A self-confessed lover of clothes - they are, after all, she says what you see when you look at someone - Wirinia wanted to create a design that embodied the idea of positively taking a stand.

''I thought if I can do that through clothing and make a difference, then that would be so cool.''

Wirinia also feels her brand can signify making a stand showing support for those who are struggling.

''From my inspiration, I realised there were battles friends, family, the wider communities and country had faced, and it was clear to me that everyone faces battles every day. So from there, I wanted to take this stand further and empower more people to stand up and that's when I created TŪ Clothing.''

The brand was launched in the second week of July with the website going live.

''I get the clothes in blank and get my design printed on to them - that's how it works.''

She has had some support, but has done almost everything, including building the website, herself.

''It's been cool learning and I'm still learning,'' she says.

At present orders can only be shipped within New Zealand or to Australia..

''I definitely want to keep growing it. At the moment there's mens and women's but I want to do a kids' range.

''I can see on the website where views are from and I have quite a lot from the US,
Canada, Japan, China so I want to go global. That will be so cool and I reckon I can do it."

Wirinia left Tauranga Girls' College two years ago.

''I've been working for last two years in admin work - I started at Apata and then got a job in Tauranga but got made redundant during Covid - then when I started doing this I was 'man, I never want to have a job that I don't love again' - I still can't believe I get money for it.''

She believes she will be able to make a living from the clothing brand.

''It's already going crazy - I took a week off for a break and went down the coast where there was no service and no reception because it was going so crazy - I did not expect it to blow up like it has,'' she says.

Business studies had been a favourite subject at school, but Wirinia says it wasn't until she started her business that she realised what she had learned at school made setting the business up easier.