Lindah Lepou - Matairangi Mahi Toi Pasifika artist in residence showcase (cropped)

Lindah Aaron Lepou is a New Zealand-Samoan fashion designer. Her work is included in the permanent collection of

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

Early life

Lepou was born in Wellington and lived in Cannons Creek, Porirua until she was nine. She then moved to Samoa. When she was 15, she won a scholarship to

Brigham Young University–Hawaii Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii) is a private university in Laie, Hawaii. It is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). BYU-Hawaii was founded in 1955, and became a satellite campus of ...

, however she only studied there for three months before returning to Samoa. Lepou won a beauty pageant, with the prize of a trip to New Zealand, and moved to Auckland. In 1994 she entered her first fashion competition, the Benson & Hedges Awards; she entered a flax tutu, which the organisers placed in the Avant Garde category, however the following year the competition opened a Pacific Influences category for entries such as hers.

Career

In 2005, Lepou was the supreme winner of the Style Pasifika Fashion Awards. In 2015, Lepou worked with choreographer

Neil Ieremia Neil Ieremia is a choreographer and dancer in New Zealand. He is the founder and artistic director of Black Grace, a modern dance company formed in 1995. Black Grace has toured extensively in New Zealand and internationally including Australia, ...

to design costumes for ''SIVA'', a show marking the 20th anniversary of Black Grace Dance Company. In 2017, Lepou was the Matairangi Mahi Toi Pasifika artist in residence at Government House, Wellington. Lepou's work features traditional Samoan materials and skills such as tapa cloth and

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

leaves. Lepou won the Special Recognition Award at the 2021 Arts Pasifika Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepou, Lindah Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand fashion designers New Zealand women fashion designers Year of birth missing (living people)