This Saturday 26 June, Te Karanga ā Hape welcomes everybody to celebrate Matariki and the fresh new look of Karangahape Road with a progressive street-long party from 3-8pm.
Karangahape Road’s contemporary fashion designers are coming to the party by creating original window installations especially for the occasion!
At her 504 Karangahape Road flagship store, The Keep, designer Lela Jacobs will be revisiting a past collaboration with photographer Ann Shelton, realised as a digital print on silk of Karangahape Road, shot in aerial, circa 2000.
“We have recently reopened The Keep as our flagship store and showroom in collaboration with the completion of the road’s facelift,” says Jacobs. “With respect and in celebration of our beloved ridge, our installation will be showing five Lela Jacobs maxi smoking jackets digitally printed with a manipulated aerial shot of Karangahape Road”.
A few doors down at Lost and Led Astray, 482 Karangahape Road, designer Rawiri Brown will be collaborating with Māori artist Daniel Ellison on a text based LED work titled, My God, it’s full of stars.
“Karangahape Road was and still is the street with the most significance for me,” says Brown, who shares a studio on the street. “Since moving to Auckland, Karangahape Road has been the main place to socialise with friends, whether that be going to gigs at Whammy Bar, hanging out at Verona, or going to art exhibitions at Cross Street Studios.”
At the other end of K’ Road, in the La Gonda Arcade – a building famous for its long association with Auckland’s fashion industry – designer Hannah-Lee Jade and Goat Loft Studios will be celebrating the opening of their new showroom by creating a fashion installation in film and fabric, with a soundscape by Jorge Camacho (aka VASE).
“After being a part of Karangahape Road for 10 years, I am glad to be re-establishing a showroom in the same place I opened,” says Hannah-Lee Jade, who recently returned to New Zealand from Berlin. “Our installation Clearing of the Sky is a reflection of the past year and recognizing the start of a new beginning.”
Karangahape Road is home to some of New Zealand's most original designers, who are continuing a long legacy of fabulous fashion making that can be traced back through quirky boutiques, couture houses and department stores – all the way back to our first menswear manufacturer in 1873.
Other K’ Road fashion designers creating window installations for this Saturday’s Te Karanga ā Hape event include Hailwood, Jimmy D and Ovna Ovich.
On Saturday afternoon, New Zealand Fashion Museum curator Doris de Pont will be leading a free guided walk that tours the windows, stores and workrooms of the participating designers.
“Karangahape Road is at the heart of my personal fashion story,” says de Pont, “so I am really excited to be able to take a fresh look and to share its fashionable credentials with a new audience.”
The guided walk will depart from the front of St Kevins Arcade, 183 Karangahape Road, at 3pm sharp. Places are limited, so please book in advance: www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/fashion-strip-exposing-karangahape-roads-fashion-stories-tickets-159965538231
And when you arrive this Saturday, share some warmth by donating your spare and pre-loved jackets at Lifewise Merge Café, 453 Karangahape Road, the not-for-profit café that supports the homeless. Local artist and café manager, Margaret Lewis will be creating a street installation that will continue growing until 1 July, when the donated jackets will be gifted to people in need.
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