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Dan Ahwa is a respected New Zealand-based journalist, stylist, and creative director with over two decades shaping fashion, culture, and lifestyle storytelling. As Fashion Editor for Viva and Canvas, his work spans high-profile campaigns and contributions to publications including British Vogue, Vogue Australia and GQ.
A strong advocate for sustainability and local talent, he has served on the board of Mindful Fashion New Zealand and is a creative advisor for New Zealand Fashion Week Kahuria. In 2019, he co-curated the acclaimed Moana Currents exhibition, celebrating Māori and Pasifika design in contemporary fashion.
We spoke to Dan about styling the landmark show Into the Archives: Two Decades of New Zealand Style for New Zealand Fashion Week 2025, and his vision for the future of local fashion.
The show is a love letter of sorts to an industry that I’ve grown up with and a chance to celebrate all the amazing people that make it unique.
From designers to backstage crews, production teams, and volunteers, Fashion Week’s return offers a moment for the industry to reconnect, recognise our diverse perspectives, and reignite conversations that can shape the future in meaningful ways.
The inspiration for this show came from Ka Mura, Ka Muri, a whakataukī kindly shared by award-winning designer Kiri Nathan. It speaks to the principle of “walking backwards into the future.” At a time of so much fragmentation, who are we as a nation? This show invites reflection on the energy and passion that have brought us here, and how we can honour those who paved the way as we move forward.
Having worked with all of the featured designers at different points over the past 20 years, it’s a privilege to celebrate them in this way and to share with a new generation just how special our industry is.
Any New Zealand business celebrating two decades deserves celebration! Sustaining that level of commitment to customers and community reflects a resilience that feels essential to our way of life.
There are definite parallels with Ashley & Co and how you continue to evolve and adapt to your audience and their needs. The ability to stay nimble and explore new ways of engaging with people is what sets successful brands apart. Over the past five years, especially since the pandemic, we’ve learned how vital it is to connect on a personal level and cut through the noise.
During the pandemic, there was a strong focus on supporting local, but more recently, I’ve noticed brands embracing a global outlook once again. Even before the pandemic, particularly in the late 90s and early 2000s, many of our most loved fashion brands were already taking bold steps internationally, showing at London, New York and Australian Fashion Weeks and building strong wholesale accounts. That still exists today, but now it happens more consistently through the reach of social media and the rise of regular trade events worldwide that designers can tap into. Despite fashion’s shifting trends, what remains clear is that staying true to your values is key, and those designers and businesses that have never strayed too far from theirs continue to thrive
In 2019, I co-curated Moana Currents and published a book alongside Doris De Pont, the founder of the New Zealand Fashion Museum, who remains a mentor to me. That experience really opened my eyes to what it means to be a New Zealander in a contemporary sense. Retrospectives often dwell on the past, but I’ve always been interested in how contemporary design reflects the way we live and express ourselves through clothing today.
As someone born and raised in central Auckland, I’m fascinated by how the urban environment shapes the way we dress, particularly within our Pacific context. People often forget that New Zealand is a Pacific Island nation. In the early 90s, there was a strong sense of Polynesian pride that influenced a distinct design perspective, championed by brands like Zambesi, Doris De Pont, and Workshop Denim. For Into the Archives, I wanted to ask: what does it mean for a modern-day Pacific Islander or Māori to dress in an urban space today?
So much of our fashion imagery still leans on natural landscapes as a visual shorthand for sustainability, but the show is about exploring something different: the reality of our daily commute, how we celebrate craft, how colour and adornment express individuality, how black has become our unofficial national uniform, and how deconstructed fashion continues to echo our gothic sensibility. It’s about connecting the archival and the contemporary, and showing how New Zealand fashion lives in the everyday.
One of the most rewarding parts of preparing this show has been connecting with people and hearing the stories behind their archives. These pieces hold memories and meaning, and that sense of attachment is just as important as the garments themselves. Working with museum collections has been equally fascinating, though it comes with challenges around permissions and, of course, the ongoing question of whether fashion is art.
Personally, I don’t think fashion is art in most cases, unless we’re talking about haute couture, which exists as a one-of-a-kind standard. For me, fashion is deeply personal. It’s something everyone should be able to enjoy and connect with in the way it was intended: worn on the body, moving through life, rather than locked away in a basement. Unless a piece is exceptionally fragile or historically significant, I believe contemporary fashion should have the chance to be seen, worn and enjoyed. In fact, the more a piece is worn, the more valuable it becomes because it carries lived experience with it.
For me, the creative process always begins with the mood and the story we want to tell. Once that’s clear, everything else, clothes, casting, atmosphere, falls into place to build that world. There are definitely parallels between runway, shoots and exhibitions, but the medium changes the approach.
With shoots and exhibitions, you’re creating an image, often something that can be paused, studied or revisited. Runway is different; it demands an innate understanding of a concept from beginning to end and how a garment actually moves. That’s what excites me most about working on shows. For any creative, the runway is where clothes truly come to life.
Be open to collaboration and never walk into a room thinking you know everything. Even now, I enter spaces with curiosity and a willingness to listen and learn. That mindset is what allows you to discover what you’re truly good at and what you genuinely enjoy.
For young stylists and creatives, I think it’s really important to build your own authentic taste. Research online is useful, but don’t rely on it entirely; go to a library, look at old books, take a class, or simply step away from the screen. Finding different ways to connect with creativity helps recalibrate your eye and strengthen your personal vision.
I think the emerging generation of New Zealand fashion stylists are carving out their own paths while staying open to learning, which is incredibly exciting. It’s inspiring to see stylists who can move seamlessly between editorial and commercial work, all while maintaining a point of view and aesthetic that’s authentic to them. I’d love to see more established creatives mentoring and supporting those coming through the ranks, helping to build a stronger, connected industry for the future.
Gardenia from my grandmother’s garden.
My morning coffee.
A baguette, mayo, heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper - preferably on a beach after a swim.
Bedroom.
Doug, Dug & Dug.
Thank you Dan for sharing your thoughtful reflections and deep love for Aotearoa’s fashion story. Discover more about Dan and his creative work below.
Photography by Anya Konstantine Baranova