Māori fashion designer Kiri Nathan opens hub for future designers

Kiri Nathan opens a whare/community hub in Glen Innes, East Auckland. Photo / Whakaata Māori

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Māori fashion designer Kiri Nathan (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Hau) has opened the doors to her first operations whare/community hub in her home turf of Glen Innes, East Auckland.

Hundreds gathered for the auspicious occasion including King Tuheitia and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who recently wore a Nathan-designed cloak to the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Nathan's high-end designs feature Māori artistry and are intended to reflect the cultural and natural beauty of Aotearoa. Some have been gifted to global celebrities such as the Duchess of Sussex and former US President Barack Obama.

Kiri Nathan, Māori fashion designer, cultural ambassador and mentor. Photo / NZME

Now Nathan is giving back to aspiring fashion designers.

The operations whare is located in Glen Innes and has been named "Te Āhuru Mōwai" meaning shelter or safe haven, which is the intention of the space.

"The fact that my husband and I could come up with an idea and see it come alive. The fact that Māori designers can come in here and use the sample room and use the photo suite and they'll get the support that we didn't when we first started, and it was hard when we first started, so this fills my heart," Nathan says.

They have big plans for the leased community facility.

"Next year we are going to roll out programmes and initiatives in the local community," Nathan says.

"We want to start up enterprise programmes through primary, intermediate and college here where we take all our offcuts of fabrics and then we teach the kids how to make small things and build them a small business model, so they can start ticking over in their head what the basics of business are and also, at the same time that they're thinking about commercial ventures, they are also thinking about the planet."