Ko Amber Bridgman toku Ikoa
Ka taki te titi
Ka taki te kaka
ka taki hoki ahau
Tihei Mauri ora!
Ko Hananui te Mauka Atua
Ko Te Ara o Kewa te Moana
Ko Kai Tahu, Kati Mamaoe, Waitaha, Rabuvai, Moriori oku Iwi
Ko Kati Atawhiua ka Hapu
I’m a multi-skilled Mahi toi practitioner specialising in textiles and fashion. I have been running Kahuwai for the last 20 years. All garments are handprinted by myself using organic NZ made paint. Mahi toi Maori is my world we live it breathe it daily.
THE CREATION OF KAHUWAI
Amber Bridgman's Kahuwai clothing range started out as a children's label but soon morphed into women's and menswear with a strong indigenous flavour.
That flavour comes from Bridgman's heritage as a descendent of Kai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Waitaha, and Rabuvai-Rakiura Maori from Stewart Island.
She is extremely proud of her heritage, naming her label Kahuwai, an amalgamation of two Maori words - ''kahu'' meaning a guardian bird and ''wai'' representing water and spiritual wellbeing.
Bridgman was born and raised in Dunedin with her older sister and although her mother is Maori, Te Reo was not spoken in the home and Maori culture wasn't strongly acknowledged.
It wasn't until she reached high school that Bridgman began taking an interest in her whakapa and so began her life-long journey to connect with her genealogy.
She began learning the language and teaching herself the traditional art of Maori weaving.
The desire to weave was sparked by her aunty showing her a kete (woven flax basket) which was created by her great-great-grandmother, Granny Dawson, of Stewart Island.
''Seeing that kete sparked a spiritual call to the island and to continue my understanding of the traditional Maori crafts of my southern Maori history.''