by Metropol | September 2, 2026 8:33 am
“It’s really easy to critique the New Zealand fashion scene,” says Rose Hope of Auckland slow fashion store Crushes in her fashion week wrap. “It’s really easy to critique anything that New Zealand tries for. And so maybe the takeaway is to appreciate what we have and to turn up and to celebrate our wins.” Her words stuck with me, because what a beautiful representation of sartorial creativity this week was – and what an effort it takes to pull something like that off.
In her daily wraps, emailed to me after 14-hour days backstage at the main venue, New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) Head Dresser and Metropol’s own correspondent Mima Lewis Gourdie’s insights were a joy to read and share with our audience each morning (albeit with personal envy).
“Fashion is the only art you’re legally obligated to buy,” she writes in her final wrap. And “fashion week is our annual reminder of what a valuable industry we hold here in Aotearoa.”
Christchurch gets its iteration of NZFW in October for the second year in a row; in 2026, the calendar has expanded to a four day fashion festival, which, to me, is what dreams are made of. Dan Ahwa, the event’s creative director and who Rose also says “is a real gift to the industry”, returns to the Christchurch Spring Fashion Festival at Te Pae from 16 to 18 October.
Perhaps the biggest trend and my favourite of all across NZFW’s shows and events was was seeing people dress in their own unique way.
The street style snapped outside felt true to the person wearing it – not an attempt at a trending aesthetic. Outfits were personal and didn’t need to be perfect, which reminds me of something stylist Courtney Joe said in her appearance on This is a Fashion Show, NZFW’s podcast. “Embrace taste… because it’s totally subjective.” Taste, and whether a clothing choice looks wonderful or weird, is not measurable data or one-size-fits-all, it’s your own opinion. That’s how fashion should be.
Tickets are available for the Christchurch Spring Fashion Festival at www.nzfashionweek.com/christchurch-spring-fashion-festival.
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Hero image: On the waterfront at Ōkahu Bay, iconic Aotearoa brand Zambesi delivered its spring/summer 2026/27 show Song to the Siren. Photographed by Laura Snelling – LJS Studio.
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