Made with aroha
Whenever a celebrity visits New Zealand and wants a piece of Māori culture to take home, the woman they inevitably call is Kiri Nathan. She’s cemented herself as one of the country’s leading fashion designers to such an extent that everyone from Beyoncé and Megan, Duchess of Sussex, right through to world leaders like Barack Obama have been gifted designs from the Kiri Nathan (KN) brand.
When we meet, I’m surprised to be invited to Kiri’s house. I’m even more surprised to find myself cross-legged on the couch and chatting like I’m catching up with an old friend. It’s surprising because within the fashion, entertainment and media industries, the KN brand (which she runs with her husband, business partner and KN’s pounamu carver Jason) is well known and highly sought after. Not that you can tell her that.
It’s not that she’s one of those star-powered people who are still just incredibly grounded; it’s more that she’s somehow genuinely oblivious to her status. It’s the direct result of her journey in the fashion world being far from easy.
“First of all, when we started
