As well as Kurei, Waikato inventor Jade Luxton, Auckland food entrepreneur Natalia Herewini and Whanganui wellness entrepreneur Riana Tamati also attended.<\/p>\n
Kurei joins international entrepreneurs at a garden party hosted in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.<\/p>\n
The concert was hosted by TV hosts Ant and Dec and was attended by King Charles and Queen Camilla.<\/p>\n
It featured performances from Sir Rod Stewart and Rita Ora and drew a high-profile crowd including George and Amal Clooney, Benedict Cumberbatch and Lily Collins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel pretty posh being here, but I\u2019m just enjoying it,\u201d Kurei said from London.<\/p>\n
He knew the opportunity was going to be \u201cpretty wicked\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the whole trip\u2019s been pretty special.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been given a lot of opportunities to be able to connect with people, especially other King\u2019s Trusts around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kurei, now based in Palmerston North, is the founder of MokoBandz, a business that created gumboots featuring M\u0101ori-inspired geometric designs. <\/p>\n
He launched the company in 2022 while still at Trident High School in Whakat\u0101ne after spotting a gap in the market for gumboots that reflected culture and identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw there was demand for something different \u2013 gumboots that people could really connect with and feel proud to wear.\u201d<\/p>\n
He began by customising New Zealand\u2019s iconic Red Band gumboots with hand-drawn designs and selling them through Facebook.<\/p>\n
As the boots picked up momentum online, Kurei recognised that it was a niche worth pursuing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no other M\u0101ori gumboot brand out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support from The King\u2019s Trust Aotearoa New Zealand, including funding through the He K\u0101kano Seed Fund, helped him invest in samples and production.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a turning point for the business.\u201d<\/p>\n
M\u0101ori\u2011inspired gumboots designed by Kurei are stocked in five Bunnings stores across the North Island.<\/p>\n
In late 2024, he travelled to China to meet his manufacturers, tour their factory, make final adjustments to the design and develop packaging. <\/p>\n
He said the trip was also about ensuring the cultural integrity of his creations through the process.<\/p>\n
Building the business alone had come with challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was fresh out of school, didn\u2019t know anything to do with manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust stepping into a world I was never exposed to before was pretty hard, but you know, you enjoy the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n
He credited support from his wh\u0101nau, iwi and community for helping to expand the business and for keeping him grounded.<\/p>\n
Kurei has also led workshops and speaking engagements focused on entrepreneurship and cultural connection for young people. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunities afforded to me have allowed me to inspire and teach others.\u201d<\/p>\n
MokoBandz are now available in five Bunnings Warehouses across the North Island.<\/p>\n
Kurei said he was aiming to expand nationwide and into Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone thinks that gumboots are just for the farmers … but I think there\u2019s a real opportunity to change that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there are endless possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
King\u2019s Trust NZ chief executive Rod Baxter said the trip highlighted the organisation\u2019s commitment to supporting young entrepreneurs in New Zealand and internationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking four young people to London is a unique opportunity and signals the trust\u2019s commitment to supporting and celebrating young entrepreneurs at home and on the global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As well as Kurei, Waikato inventor Jade Luxton, Auckland food entrepreneur Natalia Herewini and Whanganui wellness entrepreneur Riana…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[62507,28361,75031,156,2082,311,56,67897,305,7799,27981,16122,2720,224434,111,139,69,28362,1562,61,9438],"class_list":["post-439133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-21yearold","tag-buckingham","tag-celebrations","tag-entertainment","tag-for","tag-founder","tag-gumboot","tag-gumboots","tag-have","tag-heads","tag-kings","tag-mans","tag-mori","tag-moriinspired","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-palace","tag-plenty","tag-to","tag-trust"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}