Te Arai Collection

This collection acknowledges Hinenui-te-po, Pohutukawa, Matariki and Te Waka-o-Rangi through draping, colours, details, fabrics and the use of the poutama design to reflect the whakapapa connection to our loved ones who have passed on.

The beauty of red against the black is two-fold - it denotes the familiarity of this colour across time and space and lives eternally in so many of our designs and calls forth a sense of the richness of life – flowing through and around us.  It weaves its way though the theme of this collection and we experience the beauty of the red in the pohutukawa and are reminded of those memories of summer and the warmth and connectedness to the people and things that make us who we are and where we come from.  Pohutukawa is also the star which connects our loved ones who have passed on, to the Matariki constellation. 

The red and black carries through in various pieces of the collection through Hinenui-te-po, where the long folds of fabric reflect the symbolic journeying into Te Po.  The rich reds of Pohutukawa the star in the Matariki constellatiin which connects us to our dead and Te Waka o Rangi, the star constellation captained by Taramainuku repreaented in the netting and tulle of the evening wear which hobours Taramainuku's net cast from Te Waka o Rangi, to capture the souls of those who have passed on over the lunar year, ready to cast them into the heavens to become stars upon the rising of Matariki.