A lot was learned from last year’s NZFW which after three years in hibernation returned strong.
Fashion Week plays a vital role for the industry – for those established designers alongside aspiring fashion creatives who are able to use it as a platform to showcase their talents.
As an owner making the very difficult but necessary decision to postpone this year’s fashion week came with a raft of messages from designers and partners who reaffirmed the challenging times currently facing the industry – not to stage this year’s event was a tough call but ultimately the right one. That said, it has allowed us to take a pause and reimagine what future of NZFW would look like.
Various discussions are underway with partners, industry, and stakeholders to consider what could be different next year and how to make the week even more accessible to designers and consumers. All options are on the table including working with individual designers in determining what they want from the NZFW platform, be it onsite or offsite shows, consumer facing shows that allows them to generate sales post event, pop up stores, celebrating fashion from various communities or working more collaboratively with Australian Fashion Week – potentially taking NZ designers there and getting Australian designers to show here.
We have an opportunity to evolve the format and deliver an event this is different from previous years, and feedback from 2023 has been useful in considering how we move forward with a dynamic and fresh programme that is befitting of our world-class design talent. Our focus and vision are to enable even more designer participation making the schedule appealing and exciting for everyone to be a part of. From a business perspective, we want to strive towards making the event successful financially, that means getting the right partners who will invest in the event but also for them to have the maximum activation possible for their brands.
I know from speaking to students at the fashion schools, especially our Whitecliffe students they are especially excited to see the return of Fashion Week next year. As the Mindful Fashion NZ Industry Value report released earlier this year has demonstrated, the wider fashion and textile industry is a huge contributor to the economy and we must keep championing it, and inspiring young emerging designers by providing them a platform to showcase their talents.