‘We are the future of fashion’: Inside Aotearoa’s guerilla fashion week

Despite the industry’s reliance on young creatives and their radical viewpoints, much of fashion’s real power is still consolidated in the boardrooms and showrooms of the Big Four capitals. And as the industry becomes even harder for non-wealthy, non-white people to gain access to, those creatives are carving their own paths, creating new spaces for their work to be recognised by a larger audience.

Take Billy Blamires, Sophia Kwon and Nina Bailey, for example. Last May, New Zealand Fashion Week announced plans to cancel its 2024 edition as a result of financial pressures, deciding to host the event every two years instead. In response, Blamires, Kwon and Bailey founded Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa, an underground fashion week that literally translates to ‘the creative week of Aotearoa’. An expansive and inclusive event that showcases talent from all – including Māori and Pasifika designers – the trio originally conceived the event to disrupt the NZ status quo. “In New Zealand, there’s a very ‘set’ industry – big names who’ve been around for decades,” says Blamires. “That doesn’t leave much space for new artists to break through. We just want to get our foot in the door and make a little noise, to show the industry that there’s so much talent in our youth.”

After last September’s successful launch, Āhua returned for a second edition this spring, and with it brought a bold proposition of what Aotearoa’s fashion scene could look like. Rose Thomas’s Pixie Pyxis label brought its offbeat eclecticism and DIY aesthetic to the Āhua runways, as did Finn Mora-Hill and his brand Fringes Garments, which offered up some slashed denim skirts and intricate metal headpieces, a collaboration with Chloe Giles’s jewellery brand Anthurium.nz. Elsewhere June’s Cry served dystopian chic with tattered gauze minidresses that clung to the body, while QQ gave us a fruit bowl full of ideas, dressing models in dental white uniforms with apples and grapes on their heads.

Scroll through the gallery at the top of the page to see all those looks and more, and read on as we catch up with Blamires about this season’s set of shows.

Hey Billy. What was the story behind setting up Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa?

Billy Blamires: We all came from pretty different backgrounds. Fifi worked in film, Nina was a model and dancer, and I was studying fashion. But all three of us shared a strong passion for the creative industries, especially fashion. As young creatives ourselves, we were looking for a community and a space where all the talent we were seeing could be spotlighted

Can you tell me about the designers at your most recent event?

Billy Blamires: This year, we had around 40 designers showing at Āhua. It was incredible to see the standard of work – truly some gorgeous and very unique designs. The range was amazing, from more established designers showcasing streetwear, to party girl fits, to avant-garde, wearable art pieces. Honestly, there’s not enough time in the day to properly go over how many incredibly talented designers were involved.

How do you choose the designers? Are they mostly fashion students, and are there any criteria?

Billy Blamires: We put out an open call for designers. Some were friends or people we already knew, others were creatives we’d seen doing cool mahi and reached out to, and some were designers who had seen what we were doing and contacted us! There weren’t any strict criteria or boundaries. We welcomed everyone, from people fresh out of university to more established designers who’d been in the industry for a while.

There’s so much talent in our youth. We are the future of fashion, and we want that to be seen – Billy Blamires

Is there any creative direction from you guys, or are the designers allowed free rein to create how they want?

Billy Blamires: There have been some boundaries around creative direction, especially with the group shows. Because we usually have five to six designers per show, it’s just not logistically possible for each one to fully direct the show. We encouraged the designers to collaborate on things like model walks and character concepts, but that was the extent of creative input for those shows. In the future, we’d love to work out a better way to involve designers more, it would be amazing for them to present their work exactly how they envisioned it.

Is organising Āhua your full-time job, or do you do other work on the side?

Billy Blamires: We all work on the side! Āhua is a passion project and we don’t get paid for it at the moment. Most of the team has one or two jobs outside of Āhua, so we make time for it in our spare moments. It’s definitely been a challenge to balance work, life, and Āhua. That’s part of the reason we had to expand the team this year, we genuinely wouldn’t be able to do it without everyone’s help and support.

How long does it take to organise the event before it starts?

Billy Blamires: It takes a lot of long nights! We've had a pretty quick turnaround both years, and we’re super proud of what we’ve been able to pull off in such a short time. That said, in the future we want to give ourselves more time to plan and prepare. It’s been a big learning curve figuring out how to balance life and Āhua while still giving the event the attention and love it truly deserves.

What problems have you identified with the current fashion system – such as high barriers to entry, a Europe-centered industry, nepotism, etc – and in what ways do you plan to shake those up?

Billy Blamires: The fashion industry can feel completely impenetrable for young creatives. It’s expensive and cliquey. In New Zealand, there’s a very ‘set’ industry – big names who’ve been around for decades, and that doesn’t leave much space for new artists to break through. We just want to get our foot in the door and make a little noise, to show the industry that there’s so much talent in our youth. We are the future of fashion, and we want that to be seen.

Your website describes Āhua as an ‘Underground fashion week.’ Why is it important to create a platform for underground creativity?

Billy Blamires: There’s such a lack of space for our community in the mainstream industry. It’s important for us to one, create that space for ourselves, and two, show the rest of Aotearoa that our combined power and skill set is something worth paying attention to.