Pitau tunic dress

This simple tunic shape was given a rich new life with Rotorua-based designer Adrienne Whitewood’s graphic black and white 'Pitau' print created for a collaboration with Te Papa Tongarewa in 2018. "This print talks about my ancestral heritage, where I come from and a lot about the historical thought process going on at the time and how it shaped story telling. It’s such an organic print, inspired by the Pītau-a-Manaia (the figurative made visible) from the artists of my iwi, where positive and negative create inspired meaning. This design is pure adornment placed on the body to stimulate creativity through formation. It was challenging making it fit on the body so I had to sculpt the shape then apply it digitally to get the sizing just right."

Details

Photographer: Mara Sommer
Model Layla D
Copyright: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence
Designer: Adrienne Whitewood
Garment type: Dress
Material: Polyester
Colour: Black and white
Label: Adrienne Whitewood
Date: 2018