Maui and the Sun Fashion Show

Tick – Tack – Tick – Tack…

Time flies. I’m already late. I grab my camera, extra batteries, memory cards… On my out of the door, I realize I’ve forgotten my notepad and a pen, and on my new high heeled shoe boots, I run back inside to grab it.

Finally in the car, I complain about the traffic, the slow drivers.

Stressed, and out of breath, I burst in to Te Papa, while applying more lip gloss. Did I need more? Just a habit… I run up to level 4, to the Marae. I slump down on a chair on the first row and finally I take a deep breath and relax. The show is starting.

Maui catches the Sun

Being a mother, artist, model, design school graduate and an entrepreneur can be stressful. Add upcoming Fashion Designer to the soup and you’ve got Tessa Bailey-Lont.

On Saturday, 20 March, Tessa had her first solo art exhibition, at Te Papa in Wellington. (The show has previously been shown at the Waitara Arts Space in Taranaki.)

Stress, stress, stress… Exactly what made the young designer Tessa Bailey-Lont create this new collection which she was showing at her first solo art exhibition at Te Papa, in Wellington, on Saturday, 20 March.

Tessa said her days were going to quickly and as a traditional Maori story of Maui and the Sun teaches us to slow down, Tessa wanted to mediate the same with her new collection.

Tessa has created something unique, something earth bound, sexy and exciting. Tessa made all the patterns in the computer. It was then sent to Auckland where industrial weaving machines created her fabric. The patterns were very much inspired by classical Maori patterns, however, the garments showed Tessa’s playfulness, new thinking and her Maori roots, all in one.

Dance was nicely integrated in to the Fashion Show

The Fashion Show had dance as an important part of the runway. Previous experiences of this didn’t impress me. However, the dance in today’s show seemed to flow seamlessly with the rest. As the story of Maui and the Sun was read out to us, dance symbolized the sun and each piece of clothing shown to us, pushed the story forward and related to everyday life and Tessa’s personal expression. Tessa told us that every garment symbolised a significant event in the traditional Maori story of How Maui slowed the Sun.

A black, leather top, symbolizes the Dark Ages, before the Sun was captured

A black leather top symbolized the dark ages, before the Sun was captured by Maui.

Long, dresses in amazing, traditional Maori inspired patterns and earthy, de-saturated colors symbolizing the decision for capturing the sun.

Long, de-saturated, asymmetric dress

A vibrant, red dress, representing the lava, or the red hot of the sun

A short, vibrant red dress in a silky material represented the lava, or the red hot of the sun.

A "string dress" representing the rope, which they caught the sun with

An interesting, short black dress, with hand woven ropes sewn together to make a string of a dress represented the ropes, which Maui and his men used to catch the sun. It was a stunning dress, just like all the pieces of Tessa’s collection.

Contemporary Fashion

As the story proceeded, so did the cut of the clothes.

From more conventional dresses and long skirts, to 1960’s inspired working suits and leisure pants and elegant jackets for the family orientated woman.

Every piece had its place in history and the Maori story.

Tessa Bailey-Lont

After the show I went to look at the clothes up close. In the time span of 5 minutes, Tessa had 2 women asking to buy one of her dresses. Now let’s hope she gets a seamstress on board to start making her clothes. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of Tessa in the future.

I left the show feeling more at peace and relaxed than when I arrived. I am not sure if it was the success of Tessa’s collection, the energy from the models and the dancer or the overall atmosphere at the Marae at Te Papa. Perhaps it was a mix of all of it. I just know that Tessa’s mission to make us all slow down and seize the day, worked wonders on me.