In 2013, Māori fashion designer Kiri Nathan and her husband, carver Jason Nathan, met Beyoncé and gifted her pounamu and kākahu (a traditional cloak), including a piece made specially for her daughter, Blue Ivy.
The moment came years before Kiri Nathan became one of New Zealand's most recognised Māori fashion labels, and it reflects something the brand has built its identity around from the start: pounamu isn't a decorative add-on to the label's work, it's central to it.
A Label Built Around Pounamu
Kiri Nathan and Jason Nathan started their label together, with Kiri designing the clothing and woven garments while Jason carved the pounamu jewellery worn alongside them. Entering the mainstream New Zealand fashion industry as a Māori-owned label with a strong cultural identity wasn't easy, but the pairing of clothing and pounamu became the brand's signature.
The label has since dressed high-profile figures on multiple occasions, including designing Auli'i Cravalho's gown for the Moana premiere and dressing former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a royal visit to New Zealand.
The gift to Beyoncé and her daughter came through a connection Kiri has described as an instinctive one between indigenous people, an opportunity that presented itself rather than something engineered for publicity.
For a Māori-owned label working to establish itself internationally, a moment like that carried real weight: pounamu, made and gifted on Kiri and Jason's own terms, reaching one of the most recognised entertainers in the world.
Kiri Nathan is a Māori fashion designer whose label pairs clothing and woven garments with pounamu jewellery carved by her husband, Jason Nathan. The label is known for its strong Māori aesthetic and ethos.
Yes. The label has designed for the Moana premiere and dressed former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a royal visit, alongside the gift to Beyoncé and her daughter Blue Ivy.
The Beyoncé meeting wasn't tied to a specific runway show. It reflects the label's broader practice of incorporating pounamu into its work, which has also been shown at fashion weeks in New Zealand and London.
Jason carves the pounamu jewellery that accompanies Kiri's clothing designs, making the pairing of the two a defining feature of the label since it began.
