Kiri Nathan, a Maori fashion designer, has featured in London and New Zealand Fashion Week, she's collaborated with prominent photographers like Damien Nikora and David K Shields but now she has teamed up with eight emerging fashion designers to take Aotearoa fashion to China. One of them is Kaikohe based mother of six, Kohi Woodman of Indigenous ASF who says she’s excited at the opportunity.
Kohi Woodman has been selected to go to China with one of NZ’s top designers and this Kaikohe girl couldn’t be more chuffed
Kohi says, "It’s kinda unbelievable and I’m constantly pinching myself when I’m with Kiri or Hui with Kiri, I just can’t believe it and I keep telling my husband, I can’t believe this is real but it is and I’m from Kaikohe"
Between kids, full-time work and a busy schedule it’s always a busy day in the Woodman household.
In 2007 the stay at home mum saw an ad in the paper and that’s where her fashion design journey began.
She may be in China next week but Kaikohe is still at the heart of this designer and her goals and children are her drivers
"That’s my ultimate goal is to build a business that the Kaikohe economy can benefit from," says Woodman.
Her message remains clear, "I just want to show them that you can have a dream, it doesn’t matter where you are, what you’re limited to or what people think. Anything is possible."
Woodman and the team head off to Asia next week.