Kiri Nathan, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Hau, is an internationally acclaimed, and locally honoured, fashion designer.

She is the co-founder, with her husband Nathan, of the KIRI NATHAN brand which embodies identity and inclusivity. Inspired by Aotearoa New Zealand and Te Ao Māori, the company is built on tradition, culture, unique designs, integrity, and a clear company vision, to deliver Māori fashion and art in cultural and business excellence. With kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and manaakitanga (caring for others) at the fore, she founded the Kāhui Fashion Collective in 2017 to support the first community of Māori fashion designers that genuinely tautoko (support) each other’s growth and success. The collective lives as an example of how fellow creatives can thrive in collaborative spaces, whilst still maintaining their individual voices.  Voices that have greater impact and focused intention in numbers, in a tribe. She has recently opened Te Ahuru Mowai, an open workspace and showroom in Glen Innes to support her community and vision of a supportive fashion ecosystem.

For Fashioning Assembly, Hui Auaha o Aotearoa, she sat down with Zoe Black, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Pākehā, the Deputy Director of Objectspace, and engaged in conversation about her fashion practice, inspirations and aspirations. Zoe has been working in galleries for the past nine years and her curatorial practice has focussed on community development and advocating for critically under-represented craft and object art forms. She is currently Norwegian Crafts' Curator in Residence, working on projects that create a dialogue between Indigenous making practices in Aotearoa and Sápmi.

To find out more about Kiri Nathan and her work, visit www.kirinathan.com or have a look at our story about her here.

Fashioning Assembly Aotearoa was supported by the City Centre targeted rate. 

Global Fashioning Assembly 2022 was supported by the Creative Industries fund NL. 

web: www.globalfashioningassembly.com

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