Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa - Rite

In the third installment of our Te Wiki Āhua o Aotearoa story, we find ourselves seized by the echo chamber. A space where the glamour is loud, the pressure hits harder and the line between opportunity and exploitation becomes dangerously thin.

This is not your hero’s journey. It’s a mirror held up to an industry that grooms and consumes. Where control is dressed up as mentorship, and creativity is traded like currency. Yet, we find ourselves returning. Not because it’s easy, but because it matters. Our stories matter.

We give everything because we know, every season of Āhua, that this might be the last time we get to make this stand. We’re a community of young, scrappy, and hungry creatives that show up to the arena seemingly ill-equipped and eyes bigger than our stomachs.

Every show this August 22nd – 30th is more than just a runway, it’s a declaration. It’s a stand for what we value, what we protect, and what we carry forward as a community.

Runway 06: Rite - A Live Sculptural Exhibition,

Rite explores the space between fabric and form, where clothing begins, before it's named or finished.

This is a study in process. A moment where material is shaped directly on the body. Where tension, touch, and timing define the outcome. Nothing is hidden. Every decision is made in real time.

Fringes exists in this space, where garments resist polish, embrace uncertainty, and remain connected to the body it serves.

An experience of presence, precision, and becoming.

Rite is not a performance of perfection.

It’s the act of making, exposed.