EXTRACT
Question: What do you do if you have no money but suddenly find your trousers no longer reach to your sneakers and your arms are several inches too long for your sweatshirts? For Te Kaihou Ngarotata the answer was obvious – design your own clothing range.
Te Kaihou grew up in a small town called Takapau on the East Cape. She started designing clothes when she was just 12 years old. She’d had a growth spurt, couldn’t afford the clothes she wanted to buy and also needed some pocket money.
“I started off buying things from second hand shops and cutting them up. I once bought an old pair of overalls, cut the legs open, got them re-sewn and made them into a cool skirt.”
