Gay jeweller bands together for same-sex catwalk wedding
The New Zealand jeweller of choice for the gay and lesbian community has joined the crusade of designer Annah Stretton
as she encourages Australia to introduce marriage equality legislation.
The campaign is called Come on Oz, Say I Do and the highlight will be a same-sex wedding fashion show on the catwalk
during New Zealand Fashion Weekend with 1000 guests in attendance. This is a first for New Zealand and has already
attracted international media attention including Vogue, Marie Claire and the Huffington Post.
Khay Amani Wahaab (known as Amani) has been in the jewellery industry for four years with her business “K. Amani of NZ
Jewellery Online”. Inclusive service for exclusive products has been her main motivator from the very start.
Her commitment to improving its own standards only continued to grow as the company moved from online-only to her Queen
Street boutique store.
With the introduction of same-sex marriage in New Zealand, Amani and her team have made it their mission to cater to
the gay and lesbian community, both in terms of customer service and design aesthetics. They believe this is an
important step in the right direction not just as a New Zealand company, but also as an example for jewellers and
retailers all over the world.
“As an active and proud member of this community myself I really felt this was the right course of action,” Amani
explains. “It is who we are and what we do and we have now made a name for ourselves as the jeweller of choice for same
sex couples.”
“Although the law change is a step in the right direction, it is the first step of many to be fully accepted in
society,” Amani continues. “If we were fully accepted, providing equitable treatment to gay and lesbian couples wouldn’t
need to be our point of difference. But the truth is, we have had several gay and lesbian couples say what a joy it is
to find us after they’ve gone into other jewellers and were looked down upon or treated differently because of their
sexual orientation.”
Amani had the pleasure of meeting the winners of Come on Oz, Say I Do, Brooklyn and Nicole for a ring fitting and was
delighted that such a stunning couple had been chosen to receive the bands.
The couple choose matching bands that were classic and timeless in style with princess cut diamonds and a unique
engraving personal to the pair on the inside of each ring.
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