DAME PIETER STEWART DNZM

As founder and the driving force behind the concept of New Zealand Fashion Week, Pieter Stewart has become an unofficial international ambassador for New Zealand fashion.
The vision of an export driven trade show first saw light twenty years ago growing to a showcase of more than eighty designers representing every aspect of New Zealand style.
Pieter can reflect on phenomenal growth for the industry, not just in terms of export returns but in the profile of designers at home and abroad, the resources now being given to the industry and a resurgence of interest in fashion and textiles as a career option.
She is particularly proud of the event’s strong links to the country’s tertiary institutions and the involvement of design students in behind the scenes roles at the collections.
With a lifelong passion for the fashion industry, since running her own model agency and school in Christchurch, Pieter was also associate editor of Fashion Quarterly before starting up a PR and Promotions company that produced the long-running television fashion events, the Corbans and Wella Fashion Collections.
Pieter has always maintained business interests outside fashion, contributing to her portfolio of experience, including work in education, as Chairman of St Margaret’s College Board for 10 years and Deputy Chairman of Independent Schools Association, as well as voluntary work within the health sector.