NZ Fashion Week Highlights Sponsorship And Activations Are Back As Kiwi Businesses Gather At Leveraging Seminar

Auckland, NZ: Marking the beginning of activity for New Zealand Fashion Week 2021, partners and affiliates have gathered in Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour to join forces with sponsorship experts, previous partners, and some of New Zealand’s most notable fashion personalities, on the pursuit of creating event and activation plans like those of pre-Covid times.

Hosted by Good Group Hospitality at Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill, offering the space, staff and catering in contra to support NZFW, the official event proceedings were led by New Zealand Fashion Week Brand and Commercial Manager, Myken Stewart, who set the scene for the upcoming activities and paid recognition to the 60-plus partner representatives in attendance.

“The leveraging seminar is a huge part of the New Zealand Fashion Week calendar, marking the beginning of serious activity with the event this year, particularly as we celebrate 20 years,” said Myken.

“We thank you all for your commitment to partnering with NZFW and look forward to working with you as New Zealand’s fashion industry comes together for this iconic event.”

The first segment featured Deborah Pead, CEO & Founder of Pead, and Nikki Newton-Cross, Sponsorship & Event Leveraging Consultant.

“As the lead marketing and communication agency for NZFW, we are privileged to work with this fabulous group of partners to develop and support bespoke activation plans to maxmise their partnership and create brand awareness that extends much longer than the week itself,” said Deborah.

“Thinking back on where NZFW and the broader industry were just twelve months ago, the financial investment from sponsors and trust in the event organisers is absolutely phenomenal. A lot of hard work has gone into getting us here today and we are thrilled to be a part of it.”

Other speakers included Jenny Simpson of Air New Zealand, talking to her 7-years of partnership with NZFW, Admir Mullaaliu, Brand and Event Specialist who has been involved in NZFW through his work at Peroni, and Kim Skildum-Reid, a corporate sponsorship strategist.

Kim Skildum-Reid, joined the event remotely from Australia, encouraging partners to uncover what is missing at NZFW and work out how they can create a solution to solve it through their activation – noting the unique position New Zealand is in compared to the rest of the world.

The event concluded with the queen of partnerships, Kiwi designer Karen Walker. Karen has been supporting with the event since its inception in 2001, through both runway shows and partner collaborations.

New Zealand Fashion Week was overwhelmed with the attendance and partner involvement on the day, which NZFW Founder and Managing Director, Dame Pieter Stewart says is just the start of things to come for their 20th anniversary event in August.

“As we move with the times, some things stay the same. New Zealand Fashion Week is very dependant on our sponsor partners and we are very grateful for their support. We work hard to ensure their experience is integrated and seamless,” said Pieter.

“NZFW is more than an event and fashion function. It is a serious business and not one for just designers. There is business done between buyers, partners, backstage, front stage, and even the bars. It’s about opportunity and an eager and willing audience,” said Pieter.

Confirmed partners for New Zealand Fashion Week 2021 include Auckland Conventions, Auckland Unlimited, Ford Motor Company of New Zealand, Ministry of Social Development, Auckland Council, Keith Hay Homes, Resene, Constellation Brands, Caci, Vivo, Chapman Tripp, Red Bull New Zealand, Base 2, KSSM, Laybuy, Atomic Coffee Roasters, Print House, Heart of the City, Nu Skin, FRANKiE4 and COOLA, with many others expected to come onboard over the coming weeks.

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