New Zealand Fashion Week is just two weeks away and the big news drops have been flying into my inbox faster than I can apply my mascara.
The biggie this morning is that Karen Walker will be doing an offsite show in partnership with long-time collaborators Lexus, adidas originals and Levi’s to create “the ultimate runway adventure”.
Her return to NZFW 2025 with adidas – after 15 years – was unforgettable as champion hobbyhorse athletes pranced and jumped over hurdles while a model worked a treadmill for the show’s entire duration. We can’t wait to see what the creative duo of Karen Walker and Mikhail Gherman will present! What we can predict is that Walker’s iconic Runaway Girl is likely to to feature somewhere.
Zambesi has also slipped onto the schedule which is a welcome relief as I don’t think they’ve skipped one in 26 years!
Zambesi NZFW 2025. Photography RadLab
The internationals
International designers are also bringing an exciting new element to NZFW this year.
The CHINA NOW showcase will celebrate contemporary Chinese design, featuring two renowned Chinese labels – Gu Axin and J by HO.
Gu Axin is an Eastern ethic brand which launched a fashion movement called “Guizhou Village T” in remote mountain villages – bringing the runway to terraced fields and ancient wind-rain bridges. It will bring the spirit of “Guizhou Village T” to New Zealand Fashion Week for the very first time, presenting an Eastern ethnic couture spectacle to the Southern Hemisphere.
J BY HO is an independent, China Top Ten Designer and high-street brand. J BY HO will be bringing their Reign Robe collection to the NZFW runway. Expect extended trains, mermaid silhouettes, and precision tailoring, paired with cascading “haute couture” pearl jewellery that chimes with each step.
The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) presents Khadi Beyond Borders as part of a landmark partnership with NZFW.
At the heart of the showcase on August 18 is India’s iconic handspun and handwoven textile Khadi. Once a symbol of India’s independence movement and self-reliance, Khadi has evolved into a globally recognised fabric celebrated for its craftsmanship, heritage and sustainable production.
Khadi Beyond Borders reimagines this historic textile through the work of four of India’s leading contemporary designers – Rajesh Pratap Singh, Samant Chauhan, Shruti Sancheti and Pawan Sachdeva.
Singh will headline the show with a solo presentation. His work has earned international acclaim for its refined silhouettes and timeless aesthetic as well as precision tailoring, understated elegance and meticulous craftsmanship.
Rajesh Pratap Singh
Taking place next door to NZFW at The Cloud, Kiri Nathan is set to produce a landmark indigenous fashion programme with the inaugural New Zealand Indigenous Fashion Symposium, bringing together Indigenous designers, artists, cultural practitioners, entrepreneurs and industry leaders from Aotearoa, the Pacific and around the world for a week-long celebration of Indigenous creativity, innovation, commerce and cultural exchange.
Other additions to the 2026 schedule are onsite shows Beach Brains and By Kai.
Backstage at Claudia Li NZFW 2025. Photography RadLab
Word on Fashion is also ecstatic that NOM*D and PLUME, The Keep and Claudia Li have all confirmed offsite presentations.
NOM*D
Beach Brains will present NZFW’s only dedicated menswear show, with a late-night slot on Thursday 20th August. Coming off an incredibly successful selling period at Paris Fashion Week, Beach Brains is now stocked by more than 30 premium retailers worldwide, making it one of the country’s most successful young menswear brands.
Beach Brains will present the only dedicated menswear show at NZFW.
Makaira Lee’s contemporary label BY KAI will make its runway debut at NZFW 2026. It will be Lee’s first solo venture with BY KAI after a decade in stylist and art director roles. Lee draws on her Fijian heritage in this debut collection, exploring modern resort dressing through refined silhouettes and considered construction.
BY KAI will make is set to make its runway debut.
Extending the off-site event schedule is NOM*d and PLUME with a curated salon-style showcase, Zambesi, Claudia Li and The Keep by Lela Jacobs.
SABEN will be also be heating things up an invite-only offsite retrospective exhibition celebrating 20 years of SABEN’s iconic Tilly bag. Designer founder Roanne Jacobson calls the Tilly the brand’s “humble overachiever”. It’s a neat, organised and multifunctional purse/wallet/take-over-the-world clutch with five compartments and inner zips pockets!
The celebration continues at SABEN’s Ponsonby flagship from 21–23 August, where all are invited to discover a curated retrospective honouring 20 years of the iconic Tilly handbag.
Celebrating 20 years of SABEN’s iconic Tilly bag.
In other news THE ICONIC, has today revealed the local and international designer lineup for its runway titled,The Front Row. Australian labels
Christopher Esber, BLANCA, CLEA, One of Others, The Tales, Cendre as well as one off pre-loved pieces from The Real Deal. New Zealand labels Paris Georgia and Deadly Ponies will also take to the runway alongside exclusive looks from THE ICONIC’s labels AERE and mínima esenciales Spring/Summer 2027 collections.
Not to forget the headline designers from earlier announcements – Juliette Hogan, Twenty-Seven Name, Yu Mei, Kathryn Wilson, Kāhui Collective, Taylor, Caitlin Crisp, Pacific Fusion and Elle & Riley.
Beauty news
Aleph Beauty is a Support Partner for New Zealand Fashion Week 2026, bringing its skin-first, consciously created makeup to the runway across a significant schedule of shows.
As a leading New Zealand made clean beauty brand, Aleph will be supporting key New Zealand Fashion Week shows with backstage makeup artistry, product and expertise, helping bring each designer’s creative vision to life through modern, considered beauty.
Aleph will be working across the NZFW opening show, Twenty-Seven Names, Taylor, The Studio, The Future of Fashion presented by Giltrap Group, Breast Cancer Cure Group Show, THE ICONIC Presents the Front Row, Viva Presents Greatest Hits Vol 1 and Vol 2.
Aleph’s multi-use products are designed to work intuitively across different skin types, tones and textures, making them especially suited to the pace and demands of backstage environments.
Food at Fashion Week
Daily Bread is bringing a chef-led food experience to the event and leading the culinary direction is renowned New Zealand chef Tom Hishon, co-founder of Daily Bread and formerly of Kingi and Orphans Kitchen.
Guests can expect two distinct Daily Bread experiences throughout the week.
The Daily Bread team.
A dedicated Daily Bread Pop-Up Café will welcome visitors into the precinct with exclusive pastries created especially for NZFW alongside signature Daily Bread favourites, Supreme coffee, All Good plant milks, Liquid Lightning juices and a selection of special event-only offerings.
Beyond the café, the wider food and beverage programme will be curated by Hishon and the Daily Bread team, delivering a hospitality experience that extends far beyond what guests would traditionally expect from a fashion event.
Across the week, guests can expect a menu of thoughtfully curated dishes, from Daily Bread Hot Spelt Pretzels with whipped goat’s cheese and hot honey, to Fiordland Wapiti croquettes and artisan charcuterie plates. In the VIP Lounge, the offering steps up to include separate day and evening menus, including an afternoon ‘high tea, a daily Te Matuku oyster hour, post-show desserts and plenty of Champagne.
Christchurch Fashion Festival announcment
Christchurch Spring Fashion Festival (CSFF) returns to Ōtautahi from the 15th – 18th of October, expanding into a four-day celebration.
State-of-the-art convention centre Te Pae will host the principle shows curated by New Zealand Fashion Week, with satellite events popping up over the city.
Christchurch Fashion Festival 2025. Photography RadLab
New Zealand Fashion Week takes place at Shed 10, Auckland, from 17–22 August 2026.
See the full schedule HERE.
