PNG’s ‘wow’ moment
The Pacific Runway fashion show
Papua New Guinea fashion label Tabu wowed audiences at the annual Pacific Runway fashion show in Sydney, Australia, late last year.
Tabu’s showing at the sold-out event followed successful appearances by PNG designers Iyara and Lumai in 2016 and 2017.
Tabu is owned and operated by Port Moresby based designer Tabu PeleiWarupi. Her designs depict the diversity of PNG’s 800-plus cultures.
Her beadwork, woven of raw and natural materials, hand-printed and dyed fabrics and structured silhouettes all combine to create a statement of identity in a modern world.
Although currently primarily a general public event, Pacific Runway is attended by Australian and Pacific fashion and media industry personnel, as well as high-profile personalities and social media influencers.
Influencer and current face of Country Road Men, Jordan Turner says:
“It was a spellbinding night of Pacific magic. Personalities, character and culture shone bright. It was a reminder that a runway is not just about fashion, but also about who is wearing your clothes.”
Event founder Jannike Seiuli has brought some of the most talented Pacific designers to the international forefront, since starting the show in 2012.
Another highlight of the show is the multicultural runway.
Models from different backgrounds – primarily but not just Pacific – graced, strutted and tore up the runway, bringing to life each designer’s vision.
Vogue Australia’s sustainability editor, Clare Press, says: “At Pacific Runway, the models also told a story, one of inclusion, diversity and a celebration of the female form that is not bound by a cultural expectation of either sameness or extreme skinniness. These girls of all shapes and sizes exuded a joy and sass that’s often lacking on the catwalk. Note to the big fashion weeks: Seiuli’s casting directors are streets ahead.”
Pacific Runway is also a great opportunity for Pacific designers to demonstrate how (by using traditional methods and cultural influences) they are at the forefront of ethical and sustainability practices, another fashion industry hot topic.
Designers Sheenz (by Sheena Taivairanga) and Janet Laird Designs both create consciously, the former through deliberate ethical sourcing and the latter
It was a spellbinding night of Pacific magic. Personalities, character and culture shone bright.