Lindah Aaron Lepou is a New Zealand-Samoan fashion designer. [1] [2] Her work is included in the permanent collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. [3]
Lindah Aaron Lepou is a New Zealand-Samoan fashion designer. [1] [2] Her work is included in the permanent collection of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. [3]
Lepou was born in Wellington and lived in Cannons Creek, Porirua until she was nine. She then moved to Samoa. [1] When she was 15, she won a scholarship to Brigham Young University–Hawaii, however she only studied there for three months before returning to Samoa. [2]
Lepou won a beauty pageant, with the prize of a trip to New Zealand, and moved to Auckland. In 1994 she entered her first fashion competition, the Benson & Hedges Awards; she entered a flax tutu, which the organisers placed in the Avant Garde category, however the following year the competition opened a Pacific Influences category for entries such as hers. [2]
In 2005, Lepou was the supreme winner of the Style Pasifika Fashion Awards.
In 2015, Lepou worked with choreographer Neil Ieremia to design costumes for SIVA, a show marking the 20th anniversary of Black Grace Dance Company. [1] In 2017, Lepou was the Matairangi Mahi Toi Pasifika artist in residence at Government House, Wellington. [4]
Lepou's work features traditional Samoan materials and skills such as tapa cloth and pandanus leaves. [4] [5]
Lepou won the Special Recognition Award at the 2021 Arts Pasifika Awards. [6] [7]
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa, it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand and the National Art Gallery. An average of more than 1.5 million people visit every year, making it the 26th-most-visited art gallery in the world. Te Papa operates under a bicultural philosophy, and emphasises the living stories behind its cultural treasures.
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Joseph Churchward was a Samoan-born New Zealand graphic designer and typographer. He is known for having designed an estimated 690 original typefaces, many of which are in use around the world. His designs were also used in the masthead of The Evening Post newspaper.
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Bruce Anders Marshall is a New Zealand taxonomist and malacologist. He is an expert on New Zealand mollusca and has named hundreds of species and genera.
Joan Allison Talbot was a New Zealand fashion designer and retailer. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
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Marafetu Togakilo Smith is a weaver and community activist from Niue. She founded the first Niuean weaving group in Auckland, and her work is held in the collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum and Te Papa.
Louisa Murdoch Humphry is a I-Kiribati artist and master weaver with over thirty years of experience. Humphry grew up in Kiribati and now resides in New Zealand. In 2019, her work was recognised with a Pacific Heritage Artist Award alongside Kiribati artist Kaetaeta Watson at the Arts Pasifika Awards. In 2021, she was appointed an honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the Kiribati community and culture.
