The journey / story behind FUSION
Pacific people in New Zealand are represented by at least 13 distinct languages and cultural groups. Through generational journeys of settlement in New Zealand, cultures have been fused together to meet the needs of cultural and societal expectations in the home, school system, workplaces, spiritual connection and in the wider community. The ability to fuse diffe
rent cultures and create a sense of identity is a journey that requires awareness and appreciation of the unique pathways our families have navigated through to experience ‘the land of milk and honey’, they had left their own home of origin for. A voyage that has lasted decades has landed us here in a society that is fused by cultural traditions, intergenerational diversity, societal changes, technological advancements, digital influence and access to an infinite bank of knowledge. The inability to capture, identify and manage the consequential diversities of this voyage could seem like a warp of filters that blur their view of meaning and purpose. The ability to capture, identify and manage these diversities is a unique ability called Poly Cultural Captial, where accumulated cultural knowledge is strategically used in various social contexts. What does this mean for Designers of Pacific descent in the fashion world. It means the pacific capacity to create and innovate is insurmountable. The fashion world sees the pacific through traditional lenses, often neglecting the influences and the journey’s of the pacific people living in diaspora. The complex and competing cultural identities imprint a new kind of pacific designer. The Pacific Designer today, innovates with cohesion, creating a unique balance of diaspora living and traditional meaning, often the tipping point of a niche market, the world platform awaits. Fashion is art and art has no rules. As pacific as we are, we neglect the individual nations that have been fused together by the obvious threads. We neglect that each nation has generational send offs to explore, discover and create. The Fusion Pacific Fashion Show is about creating a platform that showcases creativity, innovation, originality and revolution of the pacific designer today. Our pacific designers talent needs world stage exposure, what better way than to start now, a call out to pacific designers that think in the now, this is your time to shine, this is your time to bring the new pacific flavor to life.
