Pila Faimasasa Talataina

“To me Resene Temptation represents playfulness and youthfulness, but also femineity: a powerful, strong and beautiful woman, a woman who knows her worth and is fearless. To me Resene Temptation not only represents who she is but where she comes from, her family, God and her culture. In the celebration of a decade of fashion with Whitecliffe and Resene I wanted to celebrate hard work and sacrifice. These weeks were a great challenge to me as a designer and took a lot of hard work and sacrifice to bring my design to life.

For my design I have created an off the shoulder dress. For the top half of the dress, I have done some hand sewing, with a woven look 3D shape. The shapes represent me and my people. It looks like a Fala (mat) pattern. A Fala is made by women. It is a fine mat which is only used in gifted giving or also worn around the waist at special occasions (for the Samoan cultural dance). This displays a mutual respect that enforces family ties. For the bottom of the dress there is some draping and a flowy finish, to show strength, beauty and a bit of playfulness.

My garment easily represents ‘Resene Temptation’ with the flowy and femineity look of the dress. It also links to me and my culture with the hand sewing texture of the Fala weaving of the top half of the dress.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2023

Photography by Jonathan Kraettli

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