Poutama sector collectives — fashion, kai, wine, hemp

Before you apply

Worth knowing about if you are making kākahu, kai, or anything in a sector where you are competing alone against much bigger operations.

Kāhui Fashion Collective was founded in 2017 by Māori fashion designer Kiri Nathan (Ngāpuhi, Tainui), initially to help four Māori designers grow their businesses and source fabrics. Poutama describe it now as a much larger community supporting Māori fashion designers and Māori-inspired clothing and jewellery. It has since become the vehicle through which Māori and Indigenous designers reach New Zealand Fashion Week — reporting in 2025 put the cost to a participating designer at a couple of thousand dollars against more than $100,000 for a solo show. That is the difference between possible and not.

The collective has grown well beyond what Poutama’s page describes, including a mentorship programme, shared facilities for designers and a retail space carrying Indigenous labels. Ring Poutama or the collective directly for what is currently open rather than relying on any page — this one is moving fast.

The other clusters follow the same logic in different sectors. Indigenous Cuisine Cluster for kai. TUKU for Māori wine. MiHI, Movers In Hemp Innovation. The Mīere Coalition for honey. Poutama also ran Waiū Dairy and the Provincial Growth Fund programme.

None of these is a grant you apply for. They are doorways into buying power, shared logistics and industry relationships that a single small pakihi cannot open alone. Poutama’s development investment is listed here separately and the two work together. 0800 476 882.