Royal reception thrills Kiwi designers
Karen Walker has described meeting the Duchess of Cambridge as ‘‘delightful’’.
The New Zealand fashion designer was hosted at a reception at Buckingham Palace for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange to mark London Fashion Week.
Walker partnered with a group of Cook Islands craftswomen to create a traditional gown for the event, where she was joined by lead artisan, 73-year-old Ma¯ma¯ Tukua Turia.
Walking through the gates of the Palace and getting to meet the duchess was an exciting honour, Walker said.
‘‘The Palace is a thousand times more grand and beautiful than I ever imagined, it’s enchanted,’’ Walker said. ‘‘The Duchess of Cam- bridge was very interested in our work and asked us a lot of questions.’’
The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange is a project designed to celebrate artisans and designers and mark the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in April.
Designers from the 52 Commonwealth countries created dresses for the event, with Walker and Turia creating a gown that incorporates traditional Cook Islands tivaivai (quilting).
Being part of the project was an empowering experience, said Turia, who is originally from Aitutaki and now lives in South Auckland.
She and the team of Ku¯ki ‘Airani Creative Ma¯ma¯s – aged 60 to 91 – divided their time between Ma¯ngere and Walker’s design room in Grey Lynn making the dusty-pink wool-flannel dress.
‘‘Sewing tivaivai is all about enjoying time with the ladies, working together, singing together and learning from each other,’’ Turia said.
Walker said she had an enormous sense of awe working with the Ma¯ma¯s on the dress.
‘‘For me, it was even more about sharing in the history, culture and meaning of tivaivai than it was about creating a dress. It’s been a very special project for us.’’
Traditionally bed coverings, tivaivai is central to Cook Islands culture, made in patchwork style and gifted to family and community to mark special occasions.
Walker and Turia chose iconic flora of the Cook Islands for their dress, which has 10 floral designs, 12 styles of stitching, nine kilometres of thread, and took 1000 hours to stitch.
Turia learnt to make tivaivai from her grandmother, and is one of only a few recognised experts in tivaivai in New Zealand. She aims to keep the craft alive and pass on the skills and methods to the next generation.
Walker said it had been a privilege to watch the ladies work on the project.
‘‘I’ve always loved the look of tivaivai; the strong graphics, fantastic colour combinations and beautiful detail in the stitching, but with this project I’ve learnt so much more. I’ve also loved the embracing of the time the craft takes and how that time is spent not only creating the work but being with friends and community.’’
About 30 dresses have been created for the project, which will move to public exhibition spaces in London after the showcase.
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