Surfer Te Kehukehu Butler has teamed up with tā moko artists Maia Gibbs and Henare Brooking to launch a Māori clothing line. Their collection, called Tai Kehu, has been designed for the global brand, Quicksilver, which sells surf, snow and streetwear.
Butler says this is an opportunity he is grateful to be a part of.
“Having this collaboration with Quiksilver is mean for me. It means so much to me to be able to give back to everyone here in Aotearoa and give them the opportunity to see the pathway of surfing, which is something I’ve always dreamed of doing to be a leader for our people,” he says.
This clothing line Tai-Kehu in collaboration with Quiksilver is impressing people including his close friend and Quiksilver photographer Billy Lee Pope, who says this is an amazing collaboration of art and culture.
“It’s awesome to have a collection that helps nurture te reo Māori and the Māori culture. It was Kehu’s amazing idea that he pitched to us and we were all on board and we’re stoked,” Pope says.
Surfing is in the DNA for Butler because both his father and grandfather were surfers in their day, and this child of Tauranga Moana hopes this clothing line will put a smile on both of their faces.
“Koro being an OG surfer from way back, and an original waterman from way back, is pretty special, and I hope he is proud. Hopefully, the whole iwi feels proud, because we’re trying to put Māori on the map as watermen because we are, and I think we should be proud of being Māori and being so close to Tangaroa,” Butler says.
Surfing was once a labour of love for Te Kehukehu, and now it is a lucrative endeavour.