Fashion & Textiles NZ Briefs Parliament on the Future of NZ's Fashion & Textile Industry
4th November 2025
Industry Milestone: Fashion & Textiles on the agenda at Parliament
Tuesday November 4th, 2025 marked a defining moment for Aotearoa’s fashion and textile industry, and for Fashion & Textiles NZ. For perhaps the first time, our sector was formally recognised and heard in Parliament, with Ministers, MPs, industry leaders and partners coming together to acknowledge our industry’s contribution, and importantly, its future potential.
Hosted by Camilla Belich MP, we were honoured to have Minister Todd McClay join us and reiterate our agenda, speaking about the export and fibre opportunities for the sector in NZ and globally. We were also joined by Ministers Nicola Willis, Nicola Grigg, and Mark Patterson, MPs from across the house, and national industry and business leaders.
Our message in Parliament was clear:
New Zealand’s fashion and textile industry is a quiet economic powerhouse - contributing $7.8b to the economy, supporting 76,000 jobs, and shaping culture, creativity and community across the country.
Our industry spans the full value chain - from fibre and textile production to design & manufacturing, retail, and, ultimately, our customers and our communities. We are an industry that creates jobs, drives innovation, strengthens exports, and shapes culture and community.
We shared that this industry stands at the intersection of design, manufacturing, fibre innovation, and values based leadership. That we have distinct competitive advantages across this value chain, and with the right investment and partnership, this industry's potential to deliver lasting value for our economy, our communities, and our place, is immense.
Introducing Fashion & Textiles NZ
As an organisation we are focussed on these opportunities through the entire clothing, textiles, and fibre value chain. As such, we have taken the decision to change our name to reflect this. Over the coming 6 months, Fashion & Textiles New Zealand will become Fashion and Textiles New Zealand. This new name better reflects who we represent and what we’re looking to achieve. This change will be phased in.
Last night we called for continued, meaningful partnership with government to unlock this value and accelerate industry progress, to ensure this industry remains successful, resilient, and enduring for generations to come.
Three new initiatives announced
To drive momentum and strengthen capability across the value chain in Aotearoa, we announced three major initiatives:
Threads of Tomorrow Summit - June 16th 2026
A landmark national forum, supported by ASB, bringing together the fibre-textile-fashion ecosystem to showcase innovation, build collaboration, and strengthen global opportunity for NZ design, manufacturing, and fibre excellence. Save the date and let us know here if you would like to be part of this.
Industry Manufacturing Strategy
We will produce an actionable forward-looking plan to reinvigorate and position our manufacturing sector for long-term prosperity, by building resilience, capability and enduring competitiveness with a focus on accelerating technology adoption, and growing export-ready, future-fit production capacity.
Future of Fibre Aotearoa
A multi-year initiative supported by Agmardt, focused on unlocking value across NZ’s fibre ecosystem, from farm to finished textiles, identifying opportunities to position fibre as a flagship of Aotearoa’s high-value economy.
These initiatives represent a critical investment in the long-term strength, competitiveness, and durability of our industry.
This moment was made possible by our members, advocates and supporters who have helped build a united, future-focused voice for our industry. Thank you for being part of this significant step forward. It was phenomenal to have so many of our members and partners join us, many travelling from around the country.
We are incredibly proud to have reached this milestone - it marks a new stage for us as an organisation. Our ambition is bold: a future where New Zealand’s fashion and textile industry is globally recognised for innovation, excellence, and enduring value.
If you’re interested in working with us on creating opportunities through fibre to fashion please get in touch.
