Knitting, crochet, macrame and weaving – fashion stalwart Doris de Pont has noted a rise in interest for handcraft among local communities and New Zealand fashion. Madeleine Crutchley speaks to local makers who are championing processes of patience.
Cast on. In five minutes, there is a row. In an
Handcraft has long been endorsed as a salve to online overwhelm. Devotees spotlight the tangibility of the activity, comparing homespun fashion to the dizzying diffusion of data between devices, hard drives and secretive server farms.
While the internet and social media offer the opportunity to exchange instructions for methods and making, knitting itself demands keen attention to the movement of one’s own hands.
This intentional approach is what Doris de Pont ONZM, designer and founder of New Zealand Fashion Museum (NZFM), will spotlight for the upcoming exhibition series Knit: Original Fashion Created From Yarn. Based in Auckland’s Strand Arcade, Knit will display significant pieces of clothing made from yarn and host workshops for those keen to hone their skills.
As with all NZFM exhibitions, Knit looks to respond to how people in Aotearoa New Zealand are dressing and thinking about clothing. Doris wanted to create something that would reflect the growing interest she noticed – particularly from young people.
She notes seeing young girls crocheting under the trees at Auckland’s Pasifika Festival, and groups “spilling out on the street, knitting” at Ponsonby Rd’s Prosper yarn shop and studio.
“I really wanted to give context to that but also encourage and support people’s learning in that area, passing on some of the skills,” Doris says.
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Advertise with NZME.The NZFM doesn’t house a permanent collection, so the exhibition collates pieces borrowed locally. The display will include Aorangi Kora’s Tino Rangatiratanga poraka (sweater), which she created for her label Crochet Bae following activations in Pōneke, along with a korowai made by a group at Epsom Community Library, knitwear with a stitch designed to resemble that of a Papuan bilum (woven bag) and a neon knit vest by Lissy and Rudi Cole.
Locally, yarn craft is in the spotlight for its capacity to connect – the exhibition follows the opening of Lissy and Rudi’s neon and crochet Wharenui Harikoa in The Civic.
Doris believes the growing interest in a local context reflects a broader desire for genuine community spaces and growing awareness about eco-conscious design practices.
“I think it’s a discovery of the value of community, rather than ‘I, I, I’.
“I see it very much in that context. The people who are very involved with sustainability and conscious living, taking the time to be with people and to share with people, I find it so heartening. I think it’s a turning away from the selfishness of the neoliberal agenda.”
Kat Aucamp
Kat Aucamp delights in experimental designs for their slow fashion label Goldi Knits. The project began as a side practice after Kat graduated from Elam School Of Fine Arts in 2019, where they began experimenting with knitting, rather than sculptures.
“I am deeply influenced and energised by my community of artists and creatives in Tāmaki Makaurau and Aotearoa. I am inspired by queerness, pop culture, nature, op shops, 80s fashion magazines, my friends and lovers… and Vivienne Westwood, of course."
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Advertise with NZME.Kat learned to knit from their grandmother Mary, who was a part of their family home.
“Sitting in her lounge, I learned how to cast on, do basic garter stitches and cast off, and she oversaw my scarves and blankets, picking up lost stitches along the way.
“I was never excited by reading patterns or watching YouTube tutorials, so really, everything I know has been learned gradually over time from my Gran and through making and experimenting.”
For Kat, the draw to knitting is multifaceted. It’s highly transportable, and Kat often finds a space to work on beaches, friend’s couches and bed (where they can also watch films and listen to music). They say there is also a comfort in the “rhythmic reliability of hand knitting”.
“I am constantly moved by how my hands can transform thread into clothes that have lives on bodies in the world.”
They’re excited by the alternative view of fashion that the craft can offer, too.
“In times of overconsumption, fast fashion and mechanical mass production, clothing can feel soulless and disposable. I think people are being drawn to collect and wear pieces that have been slowly crafted by hand, particularly creative people who have deep relationships with the objects in their world.
“I sometimes feel frustrated with the slowness of my making, but remind myself how special it is to be slow and make by hand and carry on traditional crafts so that they don’t get lost to time.”
For Knit: Original Fashion Created From Yarn, Kat is set to host a workshop called Matrix on August 30. The artist will look to pass on their distinct approach to knitting.
“I am excited to demystify the process of constructing knitwear. I will be teaching how to use an existing piece of clothing as a matrix to create from, to encourage people to work without written patterns to create pieces that are perfect for their bodies.”
Natalie Robb
Natalie Robb’s (Ngāti Whakaue) latest collection of knitwear for her label Amélie is titled A Love Letter To Te Wairoa. The pieces, and subsequent shoot, draw on her experience of moving to Te Wairoa in 2022.
“We were welcomed in with such warmth and manaaki, and quickly felt a real sense of belonging.”
The collection features brushed mohair knits, bonnets, kete threaded with glass beads and stripy pōtae (hats). Natalie celebrated the launch with a photoshoot that captures the pieces worn in Te Wairoa, before making her recent shift to Tāmaki Makaurau.
“It was a way to honour and capture the people, places, and stories that shaped this chapter before we left.”
Natalie says she has been inspired by the rural women she’s met who are learning from their tīpuna (ancestors) and keeping their knowledge alive.
”The fibre artists of Te Māhia have been incredibly generous with their time and knowledge, and have opened doors to a world I had never even thought of,” she says.
She is part of a local group, the MaWa Spinners, who meet every fortnight “to spin, yarn, and learn together”.
”They really grew my love for fibre art in ways I couldn’t have imagined,” Natalie says. “I’m constantly in awe of their skill, generosity and commitment to keeping fibre art alive.”
It also enabled Natalie to foster crucial connections.
”Being surrounded by a community that lives and breathes te ao Māori, where te reo is upheld, whenua is cared for, and whānau uplift one another, encouraged me to keep exploring my own whakapapa and learning journey.
“This shoot was a love letter to all of that – to Te Wairoa, and the people, land, and learning that have shaped me since living here. A reminder of the beauty that lives in community, whenua, language and fibre."
Natalie picked up crochet from her brother and knitting from her mother, who occasionally lends a hand in the conceptualising and making of pieces for Amélie. For Knit, Natalie will pass these lessons on, sharing the pattern for her balaclava in a workshop on August 27.
She’s excited about the place Amélie is in, working to “shift the fashion narrative in Aotearoa” by focusing on “slow, handmade practice and kaupapa Māori values, in an industry that often prioritises speed and trend”.
“Through storytelling, visible process and celebrating wāhine Māori artists, Amélie holds space for garments that carry meaning and not just aesthetics. It’s about fashion that reconnects – to whenua and to the hands that make."
Ani O’Neill
Ani O’Neill (Ngāti Makea, Ngāti Te Tika) – a part of the influential Pacific Sisters – has regularly exhibited her crochet and handcraft in art galleries all across Aoteaora and further abroad. Her practice began at home, with the help of craft books and her loved ones.
“My grandmother, Mama Pareu, who raised my sister and [me] in Ponsonby was always crafting and sharing her projects with me.”
Ani says her grandmother taught her the basic skills, such as knit and crochet methods and stitches and how to sew by hand and with a sewing machine.
These crafts hold a special place in Ani’s life and wardrobe. Artists Megan Hansen-Knarhoi and Emily Siddell created crochet flowers for the bodice of her wedding dress using cotton yarn.
“I felt like I was wrapped in the most beautiful floral hug, a tribute to the beautiful flowers of the Cook Islands: tiare maori, tiare taina, tipani, pitate.”
Ani will host a workshop with Megan and Emily on August 22 and 23 that encourages people to craft in pairs.
She says she gravitates towards the craft because of the expression it encourages.
“I value the love embedded in crafting and gift making, the potential found in new material and joy in creative experimentation. The beauty of form and function. The freedom to push boundaries and the power of humour to bend the rules of ‘art vs craft’.”
As she hopes to encourage this month, there’s plenty to draw from making within a community, too.
“[There’s] a social aspect where people are who are working on their own projects alongside each other can spend time chatting together solving life problems ‘over the tea cups’; educational opportunities [and] wānanga – participants sharing skills, techniques and cultural knowledge through demonstrations; and making work together contributing to a collective project and sharing time and resources to achieve a goal that is greater than an individual could create alone."
Knit: Original Fashion Created From Yarn launches on August 8 at the Strand Arcade and runs until August 31, as a part of New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria. You can find the full programme for the exhibition and activations here (note: some require booking).
More on knitwear and craft
From the individual experience of handcraft to a broader resurgence.
How Hard Is It To Make Your Own Clothes? Viva Put Local Patterns To The Test. Burned out by fast fashion, Madeleine Crutchley took the sewing machine into her own hands.
Model Bernadette Van Den Anker Is An ‘It’ Knit Girl. The budding knitter includes pearls and other surprises in her yarn and mohair.
Runway Show Papa Returns To Spotlight Weaving & Encourage Preservation. Co-curator and weaver Beronia Scott tells Madeleine Crutchley about the kaupapa, her learnings through raranga and Papa’s purpose of preservation.
Is It Time To Raid Your Grandparents’ Wardrobes? It’s The Era Of A Trad Knit Revival. A convincing case for heritage knitwear makes a renaissance, but why? A mini-tribute to the specific merits of Fair-Isle knits, cable-knit jumpers et al.
Made With Love: The Tight-Knit Renaissance Of Craft. Lo-fi DIY, handmade and crochet — time-honoured craft techniques have found a moment of revival.
