On Monday, the biggest event on the New Zealand fashion calendar kicks off as New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) celebrates its 25th anniversary. <\/p>\n
\n 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
\n podcast in partnership with Viva.\n <\/p>\n
The final episode, hosted by stylist and creative director Sammy Salsa, brings together three of NZFW\u2019s driving forces; women who have shaped its past and inspire its future. <\/p>\n
Tatum Savage leads NZFW\u2019s sponsorships and partnerships division, but has a long history with the event, having previously been M.A.C\u2019s PR lead and one of the country\u2019s top makeup artists.<\/p>\n
Sonja de Mari is the CEO of Breast Cancer Cure and has been a show producer at NZFW for 12 years. <\/p>\n
Petra Bagust, a celebrated veteran broadcaster, is one of NZFW\u2019s most prominent long-time supporters and a loyal New Zealand fashion fan.<\/p>\n
As the trio meander through 25 years of history \u2013 favourite moments and shows, challenges and highlights \u2013 it\u2019s the evolution of the week they come back to. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Dame Pieter [Stewart] set it up in 2001, there was nothing like it in New Zealand,\u201d de Mari says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no event that was comparable at all. So she was very bold and incredibly brave. It was visionary.\u201d <\/p>\n
Decades on, the mystique and exclusivity that once formed part of Fashion Week\u2019s magic are giving way to greater access. <\/p>\n
Savage says this year\u2019s NZFW is about participation and bringing people inside the world rather than keeping them outside it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re in a situation where sitting front row at a show should be available to the people that are shopping those brands, and it wasn\u2019t really accessible back then,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of unlocked all of that for a fashion enthusiast or an aspiring designer. And I\u2019m all for it because I just love the idea of a 10-year-old girl wanting to one day be a fashion designer<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd 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\u2019s relevant to the modern day way that the fashion industry works.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing people behind the scenes, we\u2019re getting access to the structure of what Fashion Week is about and the people who put it together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo pull back the curtain and see how that is delivered and the creative energy that produces that \u2013 like, that\u2019s an extra addition to the experience,\u201d Bagust says. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuspend reality. You are entering another zone. You\u2019re entering a zone of make-believe and possibility, fantasy and creativity.\u201d <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Celebrate 25 years of New Zealand Fashion Week, on from August 17-22, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Monday, the biggest event on the New Zealand fashion calendar kicks off as New Zealand Fashion Week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17311,141959,4624,6326,9837,9632,6928,8231,1438,185,117863,9878,117,111,43,139,69,279215,1118,1305,1961,686,1530,80],"class_list":["post-567100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-17311","tag-25th","tag-anniversary","tag-biggest","tag-calendar","tag-celebrates","tag-celebrating","tag-event","tag-fashion","tag-is","tag-kicks","tag-monday","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-nzfw","tag-of","tag-show","tag-this","tag-week","tag-years","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567100","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=567100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}