AT HOME WITH...
Keva Rands
Born and raised in Matapouri in the Far North, Papa clothing founder and designer Keva Rands learnt the importance of sustainability from her Hawaiian-Fijian-Samoan mother and Irish-English father. Rands’ parents started an eco-store in the Northland village in the 90s. Now Rands and her partner, Deirdre Stanley, divide their time between their home in Whangārei, where she has a studio and store, and the couple’s art-filled, two-bedroom flat above Rands’ parents’ home in central Auckland.
KEVA: After high school I went to fashion school and that’s where I picked up all the practical skills I have to make my own clothing and designs. When I graduated, I joined a little collective of young designers. We just started selling clothes that we were making and that’s when I made the first line for Papa. I have the same concept and aesthetic now as when I started in 2014.
I wanted to make something that would suit all of my family, lots of different types of women, all the different body types, all the different heights and ages. When I first made my collection, I noticed my family all looked really good, all in really different ways.
That was the foundation for wanting to produce clothes that heaps of different types of people will feel themselves in. Fashion is a way to express my creativity that can really be of service to the community.
I can’t really chuck something that is supposed to go in the recycling in the regular bin, it’s just painful. That had to come into the business too, because fashion is not a very environmentally friendly industry usually, but there are ways to go about manufacturing that are a lot better.
All Papa clothing is made in New Zealand from natural textiles – things that can break down at the end of their life cycle – and in very small quantities.
Our house is actually on top of my parents’ house. They’ve got a two-storey house, and then on top of it is the little apartment that my partner and I live in when we’re in town. It’s got a completely different mailing address, and they don’t connect internally. So we’ve actually got so much privacy when we need it.
It’s an older building, although I actually couldn’t tell you how old it is.
It’s such a special flat. There’s a little bridge and the upstairs level that goes from our bedroom to our bathroom upstairs. If someone comes over and the door is open, and I’m upstairs, I can stand up on that little weird space to welcome them in. It’s really funny.
The bright yellow Formica counter is my favourite thing about our kitchen. It’s so beautiful. We were thinking about replacing it recently, so we were trying to find another yellow counter, but you just don’t see them any more.
The floral rain clouds on the wall are by the artist Sione Tuívailala Monū. They are a friend of mine and a huge fan of Papa, so we’ve been doing these exchanges, which I feel is really anti-capitalist and fun. I give them my high-value clothes, in exchange for their high-value art. It’s very satisfying for both of us.
The tapa cloth in the hallway is masi from Fiji, which is where I whakapapa to. I bought it in Suva, which is where my namesake Keva, my grandfather, grew up before he moved to New Zealand. I used to call him Papa, so he is the inspiration for the name of the brand as well as me.
The tapa was gifted to us by Deirdre’s mum. It’s a Tongan one. And it’s got a unique family story within her family. They’re not actually Tongan, they’re from Niue, but it was gifted to the family some time ago. And then gifted to us. It’s really beautiful.
We almost exclusively choose works by artists with a Pasifika background, then we’ve just gone around the house and tried to see where we need something.
It’s about colour for us, everywhere needs a bit of colour, everywhere needs some cultural representation.