Miria Flavell, founder and director of Hine Collection, pictured in the Hamilton headquarters of her activewear clothing company last year. Photo / File
Miria Flavell was always going to incorporate te reo Māori into her business.
She grew up with te reo as her first language so launching a Māori-titled business was a natural progression.
And it's something she encourages others to do in a bid to normalise the language.
Miria, a mother-of-two, launched her Hine Collection more than two years ago on social media and has watched her business transform from a niche activewear brand to one that has increased in demand and is instantly recognised.
Miria believed people shied away from Māori-titled businesses over fears or assumptions they only catered to Māori.
Catering to women of sizes 8-26, the Hine Collection uses models of all body types and ethnicities, attracting a diverse client base - proof there is no restrictions to her business.
And she would love to see more people normalise te reo through their businesses.
"I don't want te reo to be a shock to people, I want it to be the norm so I'm hoping more business owners follow suit using Māori names in their business," she said.
"It's a huge part of who I am so it's important I carry it through my work."
A year before launching the Hine Collection, Flavell broke barriers by doing makeup tutorials on YouTube in te reo, which generated rave reviews.
"I noticed there weren't many Māori doing this so it was pretty cool for Māori to see a face for young women who aspired to do this too," she said.
Naming her new activewear brand the Hine Collection was a natural choice. The daughter of former Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell, she grew up with te reo Māori as her first language. Now her own two children are fluent.
Since launching, Hine has racked up 62,000 Instagram followers and 30,000 on Facebook, backed by Flavell's personal Instagram account of more than 19,000 followers.
Te Ururoa Flavell said Miria had always been driven and it was inevitable she would incorporate te reo into her business.
"She was raised in a Māori world with te reo being the first language in our house," he said.
"She had an idea of getting into business and took it up on her own steam while we gave her the best support possible.
"Her aunty was named Hine, meaning young woman or girl, so it means a lot in our family so I'm really proud she's not just thinking about herself."
Te Ururoa said he was proud of the idea that prompted Miria's business venture - realising young Māori women of different sizes didn't fit into the mould often promoted by other activewear brands.
"Because of that she decided it's not right for these people to not have the opportunity to recognise they can wear gear that is comfortable and allow them to live a healthy lifestyle," he said.
"So we're super proud of what she's achieved."
He said his two young grandchildren were now following suit by learning te reo.
"One of the biggest things for te reo is to normalise it in families so they're in a comfortable, non-threatening environment to freely speak Māori," he said.
"The more people who get behind the movement the better it is for its survival."
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