Fashion influencers turned up to the Vodafone Arena in Suva on the evenings of 2 and 3 June to watch 20 designers show their collections – many inspired by, or directly using, the archipelago’s diverse textile traditions.
Now in its 16th year, the 2023 iteration of Fiji fashion week was a first for newly appointed producer, Jarrad Clark. Australians may recognise Clark from a stint on Project Runway, but the US-based industry heavyweight has launched fashion weeks in Australia, Zurich, Istanbul and Toronto. The event’s founder Ellen Whippy-Knight said she appointed Clark because she hopes fashion week will sell not only clothes, but Fiji itself.
Backstage after the final show, Temesia Tuicaumia, who works as the event’s social media coordinator and also showed a collection under the brand name Temesia, said this year the event had ‘a sense of solidarity and unity’.
