NZFW's opening show proved what we already knew—New Zealand fashion is bold, gritty, and unapologetically its own

New Zealand Fashion Week’s opening night made one thing clear: this country has always had style. Not in a derivative, trend-chasing way, but in the grit-earned, antipodean sense of marching to the beat of our own drum. Style here has always been about tenacity—because if a New Zealand designer ends up on the world stage, it’s not thanks to proximity or accident. It’s because they chose to see it through.

Staged outside Shed 10, with the Waitematā at our backs and the city skyline keeping watch, Into The Archives was a show that already felt anchored in the present. But what unfolded was something more: a curated act of remembrance. Creative director Dan Ahwa, with co-stylist Courtney Joe and archive advisor Zoe Walker Ahwa, pieced together decades of New Zealand fashion in a way that felt both celebratory and forensic. It was a reminder that fashion here doesn’t just move season to season—it builds a vocabulary of moments.

The casting made that clear. Manahou Mackay and Jordan Daniels walked with the kind of international pull that reminds you how far local talent has travelled. Bic Runga in Kate Sylvester radiated understated ease, while Taika Waititi (because of course) leaned into Zambesi with characteristic irreverence. The Stolen Girlfriends Club x Karl Maughan garden dress re-emerged like an old friend, reminiscent of my high school years—proof that some pieces never lose their charge. Even Swandri, stitched into the national psyche, felt freshly considered. A reminder of our context into the world. And then, for me, the most personal note: archival Harman Grubiša. Part of my very first fashion week as a volunteer, and seeing those garments again collapsed time in on itself—a private memory made public, folded into the fabric of the collective story being told on that runway.

Tonight was a reminder of the potential of NZFW: of the names and the visions that have emerged from it. Of the excitement we should all feel for the week ahead. (Which by the way, we've rounded up our favourite shows here.)

Because if tonight's show was a look back, it was also a map forward.