After A Three-Year Hiatus, New Zealand Fashion Week’s Return To The Runway Feels Joyously Uncomplicated

Every city in the world and its respective fashion week has its own distinctive style. Renowned for its impeccable street style, Copenhagen Fashion Week never fails to push the boundaries in the ready-to-wear category; delivering poignant aesthetics such as the sculptural trend we saw parading the Scandinavian outpost's cobbled streets last month. Similarly, in May, on the runways of Australian Afterpay Fashion Week there was a distinct challenging of Australia's mainstream fashion industry with the presence of modest fashion (care of Asiyam), inclusive casting, and multiple Indigenous designers like Ngali, Ikuntji Artists and David Jones Indigenous Fashion Projects Runway.

While presently, in the final days of August and after a three-year hiatus, New Zealand Fashion Week returns to the runway. After a lengthy breather, the country is entering into a culturally defining conversation, reestablishing its voice in the global style trend machine. Although one might think the subsequent five days dedicated solely to New Zealand fashion might fall victim to taking itself too seriously as a result, sitting front row, the refreshing lack of pretension is keenly evident. Every runway (especially those celebrating the many Māori designers displaying their collections) is undeniably joyous, and loud about it too. New Zealand Fashion Week has been undoubtedly revived, and yet, simultaneously, it feels like its reliving its youth.

The looks we've seen on the runways of New Zealand Fashion Week are redefining silhouettes, layering, textures and techniques — keep scrolling for the trends worth adopting from our friends across the Tasman.

Both Campbell Luke and Rory William Docherty seemed to poke fun at the rigid, modest dress of the 'civilised' gentry with their respective collections. Luke showed us a voluminous silhouette with drop waist dresses and puff-sleeved blouses that drew influence from Victorian-era Europe, siphoned through a distinctly Māori lens. Docherty, on the other hand, presented us with the concept of the modern dandy, producing flowing white shirts fastened with delicate bows from neck to navel.

From Kiri Nathan's utilisation of traditional Māori weaving techniques throughout her haute couture collection to glittering Māori motifs at Jacqueline Anne, and Sofia Heke's red, white and black Tino Rangatiratanga flag palette at the Miromoda show, aspects of New Zealand's indigenous culture were everywhere and displayed like wearable art.

Although it became apparent rather quickly that Kiwis favour a high neckline, they're not shy when it comes to sheer fabrics. Zambesi's minimal grunge aesthetic played on aspects of light and darkness, presenting streamlined silhouettes and see-through slips and socks against a picturesque backdrop of Auckland's Viaduct Basin. Campbell Luke's collection — a mass of cotton and lace — had brief moments where a whisper of skin could be glimpsed beneath thin material, and the same could be said of the slouched transparent gowns at Kate Sylvester.

New Zealand has always had an affinity with knitwear, but as we enter into the warmer seasons, the country is reimagining the ways in which it styles its knits. Rory William Docherty did this spectacularly, dressing one of his models in a luxuriously thick and woollen pashmina that grazed the ankles. Meanwhile, examples of boxy and sleeveless tatty, lived-in knits were seen scattered across multiple collections throughout the week.

Granted, it can get cold in New Zealand, so perhaps this trend stems from a defined sense of utility more than anything else, but there was a refrained and formal elegance to the outerwear at New Zealand Fashion Week this year. The gleaming, rich red fabric of J.Bush's knee-grazing overcoat at the Viva Next Gen show springs to mind. As does Kate Sylvester's finale look — a red silk scarf poncho dress adorned in Sylvester's signature swan emblem.