New Zealand Fashion Week 2026 Recap
8/27/2026
Romance, Rebellion And The Art Of The Mismatch: Bared At NZFW 2026
New Zealand Fashion Week 2026 unfolded with the intimacy of a reunion and the electricity of a cultural happening. Across Tāmaki Makaurau, every runway, soundtrack and location became its own small universe, woven through with fashion, art and the spirit of Aotearoa.
Dan Ahwa’s opening ceremony set the tone, reminding us that style can communicate history, identity and belonging long before a word is spoken. Bared was there to support that conversation from the ground up, partnering with two of New Zealand’s most assured designers and watching our shoes take on another life in the streets.
What struck me most was the freedom. This was fashion unburdened by perfect coordination, alive with colour, texture and beautiful contradiction.
Street Style At NZFW 2026
1. Fringing:From Juliette Hogan’s illuminated set to scarves and handbags on the street, fringing brought delicate drama and beautiful movement to the week.
2. Knee-high boots: Styled with everything from mini skirts to flowing dresses, knee-high boots emerged as a year-round statement with effortless confidence.
3. Intricate patterns: Elaborate patterns enlivened the runways and streets, giving every look a sense of depth, story and discovery.
And then came New Zealand’s fashion elite who captured these trends in their own unique style ...
Rosalie Burns
Rosalie Burns brought her signature balance of polish and wanderlust to two distinct looks. For twenty-seven names, she paired the label’s offbeat femininity with our Kingfisher Boot in Black Patent Leather, its lacquered finish adding a worldly edge to the local story. At Juliette Hogan, she shifted into quieter territory with our Wedgebill Loafer in Black. The result captured Rosalie’s particular talent for making sophistication feel instinctive, relaxed and ready to travel.
Brooklyn Ellis
Brooklyn Ellis approached twenty-seven names with the thoughtful ease that has made her an emerging voice in conscious New Zealand style. Our Alethe in Dark Croc Emboss introduced a rich, tactile counterpoint to the label’s playful precision. It was an intelligent pairing of pieces chosen for longevity rather than novelty, proving that global polish and support for local design can occupy the same beautifully considered wardrobe.
Lauren Brodie
Lauren Brodie, better known as Elbee, has always understood that fashion should offer pleasure. She wore twenty-seven names with our Waterhen Loafer in Rustic Brown, allowing its earthy tone to temper her irrepressible love of colour, pattern and volume. The combination embodied the week’s artful mismatch: nostalgic but current, practical but full of personality. It was dopamine dressing grounded by a loafer with old-world warmth.
Estelle Schuler
Stylist Estelle Schuler made our Pandion Boot in Chocolate Croc Emboss feel unmistakably “Estelle-core”. Her instinct is to place refinement beside something unexpected, drawing on vintage treasures, Kiwi nostalgia and contemporary streetwear. The sculptural knee-high boot brought a luxurious severity to that eclectic language. Rather than neatly matching her look, the croc texture interrupted it, which was precisely what made the styling feel alive.
Rose Kwon
Rose Kwon wore Juliette Hogan with our Pintail Boot in Black, extending the collection’s clean lines with a confident knee-high silhouette. Rose’s aesthetic is grounded in ease and quiet self-expression, so the pairing felt natural rather than overly composed. The boot gave Hogan’s local minimalism a subtle global cadence, speaking to the renewed appetite for sleek, elongated footwear seen far beyond Auckland.
Troi Atkins
Troi Atkins brought a beautifully measured presence to our Towhee Heel in Black whilst pairing it with a whimsical black chiffon dress and fringed leather bag. Known for clean lines, intentional styling and a quietly magnetic point of view, Troi understands how simplicity can create space for the wearer. The heel sharpened her look without overwhelming it.
Hannah Barrett
Hannah Barrett’s Pandion Boot in Black offered a sophisticated anchor to her Juliette Hogan moment. Hannah often moves between polished luxury and the realities of everyday life, mixing designer pieces with approachable ease. The knee-high boot suited that duality perfectly. Strong, streamlined and endlessly wearable, it brought confidence to the look without sacrificing the comfort that allows fashion to move beyond the photograph.
Greta Kenyon
Greta Kenyon wore our Pintail Boot in Chestnut Brown, a natural complement to her modern femininity and love of New Zealand design. The warmth of the leather softened the boot’s long, assertive line, echoing Greta’s preference for earthy neutrals, elegant proportions and subtle references to the 1950s and 1970s. It felt romantic without nostalgia becoming costume, grounded in a sensibility shaped by weddings, art and enduring beauty.
Stacey Beatson
Stacey Beatson chose the Pintail Boot in Black, bringing decades of styling instinct to a silhouette that rewards restraint. Her philosophy is considered and personal, with confidence taking precedence over restless trend chasing. Against Juliette Hogan’s refined language, the boot became a lesson in clarity: one strong line, one enduring colour and enough presence to make an outfit feel complete without making it feel complicated.
Twenty-seven names
Returning to NZFW for the first time since 2018, twenty-seven names celebrated 20 years by going back to school. It was an idea rich with private history. Founders Rachel Easting and Anjali Burnett first met at primary school, and their anniversary runway transformed that shared beginning into a witty graduation ceremony.
Varsity jerseys, Peter Pan collars and tunics carried a charming collegiate innocence, while bubble hems, crisp satin and shrewd tailoring kept the collection out of the dressing-up box. Deadstock fabrics became some of their strongest statements, including a mint mid-century miniskirt suit and a startling lime nylon trapeze coat. Bags overflowed with newspapers and tulips. A ceramic cat peered from a velvet purse. Accessories did not complete the looks so much as gleefully disturb them.
Bared Footwear appeared exclusively on the runway, grounding the collection’s playful proportions with polish and quiet authority. The shoes gave each look a considered foundation without competing with the clothes, allowing the colour, print and clever collegiate references to shine. Just as importantly, their hidden support helped the models move effortlessly, bringing ease and confidence to every stride.
The finale delivered robes, mortarboards and diplomas, with Ngahuia Williams leading the procession in Easting’s father’s graduation robes. The mood was joyful but not frivolous. After two decades of independent design, the moment suggested both an arrival and a new beginning. As The Spinoff observed, this was a label allowing itself to say, perhaps with some disbelief, “Maybe we’ve made it.”
Juliette Hogan
If twenty-seven names gave us exuberant nostalgia, Juliette Hogan offered serenity in motion. Cascading illuminated fringe hovered above the runway like a contemporary chandelier, then reappeared on fluid, hand-finished garments. It created the evening’s defining dialogue between seriousness and softness, structure and tremor.
Hogan presented signature tailoring, painterly prints and eveningwear arrived largely in black and white, punctuated by purple, yellow and soft pink. Fit-and-flare coats gave the body authority. Sheer layers, fringed tunics and skirt sets dissolved that certainty again.
As Rosalie Burns noted in Style Magazine, “there was something quite precious about the detailing, but there were strong silhouettes alongside it, and despite some of those almost-bridal references, it still felt very wearable on the street, which I loved.”
Bared Footwear appeared exclusively across the runway, the shoes’ refined silhouettes accenting Hogan’s precise design language without interrupting the collection’s sense of calm. The shoes lengthened and grounded each look, allowing the fluid fabrics, intricate fringe and immaculate tailoring to remain the focus. Beneath that elegance was intelligent support, helping the models walk with the effortless confidence the show demanded. Each step felt assured, graceful and completely at ease.
The final bridal passage was especially affecting. A handwoven shantung silk gown offered ceremony and romance while a tailored tuxedo proposed another path for the modern bride. Neither felt detached from real life. That was the collection’s triumph. Precious details, tassels and near-bridal lightness remained wearable beyond the runway. Juliette Hogan described the show as a celebration of spring, movement and the pleasure of getting dressed. I felt all three.
The Bared After Party
Later, the runway’s formality loosened into something warmer. Bared and Remix gathered industry friends, creatives and tastemakers inside The Halligan Cocktail Bar and Lounge at Hotel Indigo, the official accommodation partner of Fashion Week.
The room had the conspiratorial glamour of a hotel bar after midnight, intimate enough for discoveries to be exchanged and buoyant enough for the week’s accumulated energy to spill onto the dance floor. Poppa Jax played as martinis and margaritas moved through the crowd. Designers, stylists, editors and creators compared shows, shoes and the moments they had almost missed while rushing between venues.
What stayed with me was the generosity of the scene. New Zealand fashion is profoundly community driven. People come not simply to be seen, but to share what moved them and champion the work of others. The party felt like the week in miniature: local creativity in conversation with global fashion, grounded by genuine friendship and lifted by joy.
A Week To Remember
NZFW 2026 reminded me that fashion is most compelling when it resists perfect resolution. A contrasting shoe, a clashing print or a sweep of fringe can change the emotional register of an entire look. Aotearoa understands that instinctively. The result was romantic, intelligent and full of freedom, with every unexpected pairing inviting us to look again.
As Remix Magazine noted, from our After Party to every runway, "it takes a trusted footwear label to step in and save the day, all while keeping style front and centre.”
All photographs courtesy of Hope Patterson and Karen Ishiguro.
Shop The Edit
From tactile loafers and sculptural heels to commanding knee-high boots, these are the Bared styles that capture the week’s romance, polish and spirited unpredictability. Consider them foundations for looks that mix freely, travel beautifully and never depend upon perfect coordination.
