Why Is It Important New Zealand Has Its Own Fashion Week In 2025?

Buyers, bookers and brands on why the value of New Zealand Fashion Week is greater than what gets rung through the tills.

Venue scouting, seating plans, music choice, set dressing, lighting design, model casting, hair, makeup and guest lists. Before you even get to the clothes, fashion week is a highly orchestrated affair.

This year, New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria has an additional hurdle to clear: delivering an event that celebrates fashion’s contribution to the country’s economy, culture and communities while also returning value to an industry facing economic challenges.

It’s a gauntlet organiser have laid down themselves. Back next week, after a two-year hiatus, NZFW’s refreshed board says its priority is “responding to, empowering, and collaborating with the ever-changing and dynamic fashion landscape, working in collaboration with the industry to achieve great outcomes”.

The mission was pre-empted in Mindful Fashion’s 2024 Threads of Tomorrow report, which highlights that while “Aotearoa’s fashion, clothing and textiles industry is a large employer and makes a significant contribution to our economy, it’s essential we look to the future and start to grow business value opportunities outside of the old industry model”.

The lead-up to NZFW has been coloured by buoyant collectivism – fashion figures, emerging and established, have been banding together in the spirit of camaraderie, publicly buying into the ideas behind the event and hoping the buying public play their role in return. It’s a fully fledged show of strength that prompts the question: why is New Zealand Fashion Week so important?

Vicki Taylor of fashion brand taylor and store The Shelter considers it a chance for the industry to project a positive energy, one “that celebrates going out, dressing up and having fun again. It’s not often we get to enjoy so many one-off experiences that show the uniqueness and diversity of our local fashion scene.”

Even as a retailer, Superette buyer Josie Wiley recognises NZFW’s value is greater than what’s rung through the till. “It’s about connection, storytelling and bringing that emotion back to our stores and customers.”

“Our customers are incredibly informed, style-savvy, and demand the best. We’re seeing more and more local designers delivering collections with international polish and a truly global lens.”

Vicki agrees and believes the event is an opportunity to amplify and endorse local talent thriving in noisy international markets. She believes there’s no reason New Zealand can’t seize the opportunity and become a Southern Hemisphere design destination akin to Denmark in the Northern Hemisphere. “We have the talent, we just need the platforms.”

Copenhagen Fashion Week is an apt model for comparison. Held in a city of 1.4 million people, it’s respected for its commitment to sustainability, innovation and accessibility, all values NZFW has identified as priorities for its work.

Vicki views the bijou nature of our fashion community as a strength, not a constraint – it brings nimbleness.

“Our creative talents are not so hindered by the formalities of bigger countries.”

Once an exclusive affair for industry insiders, NZFW collections and shows are no longer designed solely for the eye of editors. Instead, an era of encouraged experimentation means they broadcast to the fashion audience at large.

Designers are increasingly engaging with the idea of shows giving back to their community, while also existing as an exercise in enticement. In 2023, Zambesi held a highly visible golden hour runway show outdoors on the steps of the tidal pool in Wynyard Quarter, with front-row invitees sat on street furniture.

“We embraced the way anyone walking by could stand and watch our show,” founder Liz Findlay recalls. “We love that accessibility.”

Though they could be viewed as occasions of optics, NZFW owner Feroz Ali champions such strategic democratisation, suggesting a “more inclusive and elastic format”.

The explosion of digital content also delivers greater and democratised access: from runways themselves, designer interviews, street style and behind-the-scenes footage. Meanwhile, the public can buy tickets to most 2025 NZFW shows, meaning more opportunities for Aotearoa’s premier fashion festival to be experienced in person.

On August 29, Kowtow will hold a designer clothes swap, reinforcing the circular practices at the heart of the brand’s ethos. It also provides the public with an opportunity to engage with the event in a way that costs nothing.

This mirrors international recalibrations. Generally, fashion weeks no longer aim to serve just the trade arm of the industry, hoping their message will trickle down to customers. Instead they are now reaching out to those retail consumers directly.

This year, NZFW features sales-focused trunk shows by Rebe and The Diamond Shop on the schedule alongside direct-to-consumer presentations such as The Best Shoppable Looks of NZFW 2025 show presented by Viva.

Kahuria’s location matters when we think about its impact, too. Held at a new downtown hub in Shed 10 on Auckland’s waterfront, local hoteliers, retailers and restaurateurs all stand to benefit from NZFW.

Jeremy Hansen, director of communications and community for the nearby Britomart precinct, says there will be a direct connection between what’s being shown in Shed 10 and what’s in the shops across the road in Britomart and at Commercial Bay.

“NZFW brings with it a fizzy sort of enthusiasm that encourages people to go out and eat and drink, as well as shop, before or afterwards. All of it lends more energy to the central city as a whole, amplifying the pleasures of being here in the heart of all the action,” he says.

Commercial growth is a focus of NZFW and its ability to deliver future festivals. Giltrap Group has signed as the official naming rights sponsor of the event in a three-year partnership, while the recently opened Hotel Indigo is the event’s official accommodation partner.

Earlier this year, the hotel commissioned Viva Next Gen designer Nicole Hadfield of Oosterom to create a bespoke collection of fashion accessories to complement its staff uniforms, and during fashion week the hotel will host The Apartment by Rebe, described as “a fully styled, immersive space; part showroom, part salon, part private residence, designed to express a distinct point of view on contemporary New Zealand luxury”.

The hotel’s general manager Mathew Simister

says such alignments are savvy because they “build meaningful connections with new audiences and demonstrate our support for the artistry and vision that drives both fashion and our vibrant Auckland neighbourhood”.

There is precedent for these landmark cultural events to diffuse economic benefits. The World of Wearable Art Show, held annually in Wellington since 2005, contributed almost $32 million to the region in 2024. In a year marred by retail closures, no one would deny the shopping sector a jump start in the run-up to Christmas, given consumer spending in the retail industries decreased by $144m for the June 2025 quarter.

Jeremy hopes retailers see a lift in trade during NZFW but says it’s important to temper expectations because these are economically constrained times for many people.

“One of the most important things NZFW does, I think, is strengthen connections between brands and their customers or potential customers. And those bonds can be really strong and long-lasting when they’re thoughtfully attended to. You only need to look at the ongoing relevance of so many well-established fashion brands to see that they’re playing a long-term game.”

Karen Walker is one such brand. In July, Karen told Viva that success as a NZ fashion brand in the current environment hinges on “understanding and serving your community and being able to do that well”.

On August 28, Walker will return to the NZFW schedule after a 15-year hiatus, co-hosting Life With Obstacles, a customer-facing runway show in collaboration with adidas. Walker has said the brand has a “very clear” objective: “We’re using Fashion Week as one opportunity this year to connect with our audience”.

Things are evolving backstage, too. Katherine Lowe, director of model and talent company Super Mgmt, says that in the 15 years she’s been involved with NZFW, the modelling industry has changed massively. Increased accessibility means that although “it’s easier for a wider variety of people to become models, it’s also harder to make a living doing it because it’s so competitive”.

The fact there are fewer opportunities to work overall and model fees have reduced over time, instead of increased with inflation, is adding to the pinch.

“New Zealand was once considered quite a strong development market for international models. We had a lot of magazines, editorial and testing. You could come here, get great imagery for your book and head off to a larger market.”

And for local models with international aspirations, fashion week remains a prized opportunity to gain runway experience. “Without it, there aren’t many opportunities at all to get that here,” Katherine says.

Last year, Auckland student Izzy Cowdell walked exclusively for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week. Before moving to Europe, Izzy appeared in a collaboration with Viva and Juliette Hogan to mark the designer’s 20th anniversary this year and walked for the designer’s runway show at New Zealand Fashion Week 2023.

Katherine says NZFW also offers models exposure.

“International scouts will sometimes plan trips around smaller markets’ fashion weeks to see up-and-coming models and (fingers crossed) sign them overseas.”

By leveraging direct customer contact, the influence of social media, commercial opportunities and prestige media coverage, there’s potential for NZFW to have a bigger impact even when the industry is in a period of contraction. And many involved believe it can be a fashion week for New Zealand, by New Zealand, held up for all to appreciate.

In the Zambesi workroom, Liz says she hopes NZFW’s re-emergence “reminds our wider community that we have a great fashion industry here that should be celebrated and protected. Support local”.

More on local fashion

From emerging talents to statements through style.

Designer Vince Ropitini Reasserts The Art Of Passive Resistance. Vince Ropitini scooped two awards for his collection The Art Of Passive Resistance at iD Dunedin Fashion Week.

NZ Fashion Week 2025: 25 Things You Need To Know About The Event’s New Era. New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria is set to make a jubilant return next month.

William Fitzgerald’s Circular Design Is ‘Shoddy’. The Mindful Fashion Award-Winner On Why That’s A Good Thing. William Keane Jung-Ying Fitzgerald, the winner of the Editorial Prize at the Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards, has sewn a slick suit spun from recycled materials.

From Warkworth To London, Fashion Designer Kat Tua Is Challenging Māori Stereotypes. Menswear designer Kat Tua talks to Dan Ahwa about a deeply personal bespoke creation designed to underpin the values of her brand Manaaki for an international audience.