On Monday, the biggest event on the New Zealand fashion calendar kicks off as New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) celebrates its 25th anniversary.
With the runway lights about to go up, the studio lights are going down on the first season of This is A Fashion Show, an NZFW
podcast in partnership with Viva.
The final episode, hosted by stylist and creative director Sammy Salsa, brings together three of NZFW’s driving forces; women who have shaped its past and inspire its future.
Tatum Savage leads NZFW’s sponsorships and partnerships division, but has a long history with the event, having previously been M.A.C’s PR lead and one of the country’s top makeup artists.
Sonja de Mari is the CEO of Breast Cancer Cure and has been a show producer at NZFW for 12 years.
Petra Bagust, a celebrated veteran broadcaster, is one of NZFW’s most prominent long-time supporters and a loyal New Zealand fashion fan.
As the trio meander through 25 years of history – favourite moments and shows, challenges and highlights – it’s the evolution of the week they come back to.
“When Dame Pieter [Stewart] set it up in 2001, there was nothing like it in New Zealand,” de Mari says.
“There was no event that was comparable at all. So she was very bold and incredibly brave. It was visionary.”
Decades on, the mystique and exclusivity that once formed part of Fashion Week’s magic are giving way to greater access.
Savage says this year’s NZFW is about participation and bringing people inside the world rather than keeping them outside it.
“Now we’re in a situation where sitting front row at a show should be available to the people that are shopping those brands, and it wasn’t really accessible back then,” she says.
“It’s kind of unlocked all of that for a fashion enthusiast or an aspiring designer. And I’m all for it because I just love the idea of a 10-year-old girl wanting to one day be a fashion designer
“And then to be able to buy a ticket to their favourite designer and sit front row and be treated like a VIP. I love this kind of evolution of it, and I think it’s relevant to the modern day way that the fashion industry works.”
Despite the many changes to NZFW over the years, Salsa believes its visionary origins live on through innovative approaches to celebrating the many collaborators who bring the week to life.
“We’re seeing people behind the scenes, we’re getting access to the structure of what Fashion Week is about and the people who put it together,” he says.
“To pull back the curtain and see how that is delivered and the creative energy that produces that – like, that’s an extra addition to the experience,” Bagust says.
With the countdown on to the launch of New Zealand Fashion Week 2026, Bagust has some advice for those who will be attending for the first time.
“Suspend reality. You are entering another zone. You’re entering a zone of make-believe and possibility, fantasy and creativity.”
This is a Fashion Show is hosted by stylist and creative director Sammy Salsa and brought to you by New Zealand Fashion Week in partnership with Viva.
Celebrate 25 years of New Zealand Fashion Week, on from August 17-22, 2026.