The City is the Runway

Dan Ahwa, Creative Director for New Zealand Fashion Week

Fashion weeks have runways. Dan Ahwa gave New Zealand Fashion Week an entire city.

For NZFW’s 2026 campaign, Creative Director Dan Ahwa took fashion out of the studio and into the streets of Tāmaki Makaurau. Shot after dark by photographer Matt Hurley and filmmakers Ned Pound and Anya Konstantine Baranova, the campaign captures a city alive with energy, and a Fashion Week that reflects it.

We spoke with Dan about the concept, the collaborators, and why Auckland is a city worth celebrating.

NZFW's 2026 campaign is set on the streets of Auckland after dark. Where did that concept come from, and what were you trying to capture with photographer Matt Hurley and videographers Ned Pound and Anya Konstantine Baranova?

NZFW Executive Director Liam Taylor and I spent a lot of time talking about what we love most about Auckland, and how to channel that into New Zealand Fashion Week. From the beginning, we didn’t want the campaign to feel limited to a single moment in the calendar. It became an opportunity to celebrate Tāmaki Makaurau year-round — its restaurants, bars, cafés, galleries, museums, and the natural landscape that sits just beyond the city.

When Liam connected with Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, it felt like a natural fit. There was a shared sense that Auckland could be positioned as the kind of host city an international Fashion Week deserves — and one we can genuinely be proud of.

Photographer Matt Hurley, alongside filmmakers Ned Pound and Anya Konstantine Baranova, captured the city with a fresh eye. The work reflects the energy of Auckland after dark — creative, open, and full of possibility.

It was also important that the creative team reflected the future of the industry. Emerging stylists Natasha Ovley and Levi Tan assisted me on set, and their perspective and energy were a real part of shaping the final work.

At its heart, the campaign is about that feeling of a night out — getting dressed up, meeting friends, and moving through a city that feels alive. That’s what we wanted to hold onto for NZFW 2026.

Talent: @tekjoukpal‍ ‍@uniquemodelmanagement
Tekjouk wears @juliettehogan

The campaign features a diverse cast of models, creatives, performers, and fashion faces moving through the city. Why was it important to show Auckland this way?

When we returned to NZFW in 2025 under a new team and vision, we took a more traditional studio-based approach. It felt like the right way to reintroduce the event and reset the tone. This year, we wanted to step back outside — to remind ourselves that fashion is something lived in, not contained.

The people in this campaign are part of the city’s everyday creative life. They’re musicians, artists, performers and designers who actively shape how we see both fashion and Tāmaki Makaurau. It also speaks to a broader question we keep returning to: how does a city influence creativity, and how do creatives, in turn, shape the city?

I have a deep respect for what has come before us. Without that foundation, none of this moves forward. Last year, we referenced “ka mua, ka muri” — walking backwards into the future — to acknowledge that relationship with history.

In an election year, it’s about holding that same respect, while staying firmly in the present — and looking toward what’s already emerging. In a time of rapid change, the question becomes how we stay connected, steady, and open. Fashion, at its best, doesn’t just respond to that moment — it moves with it. The people in this campaign embody that shift.

Talent: @olivverbailey‍ ‍@self_agency_ , @_hollyrose__‍ ‍@62management , @joannazho‍ ‍@62management
Oliver wears @fringes.garments , Holly Rose wears @charmainereveley , Joanna wears @oosteromofficial

Auckland itself feels like a character in this campaign. What does the city bring to NZFW?

As a born-and-bred central Aucklander, the city I want to celebrate feels optimistic, layered, and in motion. Civic spaces are reopening, reworking, and finding new life after periods of change and renewal.

I also think there’s value in being more deliberate about the stories we choose to amplify. Yes, people need information about disruption — but there’s also space to tell the stories that remind us what’s working, what’s evolving, and what’s worth being excited about.

A city is shaped as much by how it’s talked about as how it’s built.

At its core, this campaign is rooted in that idea — Auckland as a place of energy and possibility, from its harbour to its evolving urban centre, always shifting, always moving forward.

“Auckland in style” — what does that mean to you?

It’s about recognising Auckland as a city that’s inherently worthy of style — and a Fashion Week that reflects identity, self-expression, and the way we shape ourselves through what we wear. We live in a time where algorithms and outside influence can be loud, telling us how to look and who to be. But fashion, at its best, is about autonomy — the freedom to define yourself.

For NZFW to feel relevant, it has to reflect the diversity of Tāmaki Makaurau. This year’s programme includes designers from China and India, alongside a wide range of local voices shaping the city’s creative identity. Auckland is also the world’s largest Polynesian city, and that influence is deeply embedded in how we think about fashion here — from Pacific design language to platforms like Pacific Fusion Fashion.

Celebrating style across cultures, sizes and perspectives isn’t just something to acknowledge — it’s what gives Fashion Week its meaning and longevity.

Talent: @imyourvvvenus , @redeleven_models
Venus wears @taylorboutique

Why should someone travel to Auckland for NZFW?

Auckland is a city best experienced in layers. You can move from the CBD to Waiheke Island in a single day, spend time in galleries and museums, catch a film at an independent cinema, or meet friends for a drink at a neighbourhood wine bar. You can dine your way through award-winning restaurants, explore local designers and makers, or simply drift through different parts of the city and see what you find. Then there’s the landscape — beaches, bush, and an abundance of public spaces that make it easy to pause between everything else.

If there’s ever a moment to experience all of that at once, it’s during New Zealand Fashion Week. The overlap of fashion, hospitality, arts and nightlife makes it a uniquely rich week in the city’s calendar, creating a great buzz. With a strong programme of shows, talks and activations, NZFW becomes more than an industry event — it becomes a reason to experience Auckland properly. 

And yes, it’s worth taking the time. Book the leave, come for the week, and let the city do the rest.

NZFW 2026 Campaign
Creative Director: Dan Ahwa
Photography: Matt Hurley
Videography: Ned Pound
Videography: Anya Konstantine Baranova
Make-up: Kiekie Stanners
Hair: Joshua Scott
Fashion Assistants: Levi Tan, Natasha Ovely