GRAND PACIFIC ISLANDS ARTS

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This editorial was photographed in June 2018, by Dusk Devi for inflight magazine articles.
The model, Jorja, was the top model of the year.
 
Excerpt from a 2018 article Dusk Devi wrote [with unpublished bits added]:
 
“Fashion is a big part of Suva’s identity and Suva revels in its fashionista cred. If a designer wants to make it big in the Pacific, Suva is where one must set up shop and Pacific Islands Art literally did.

Moving from Tahiti to Fiji and opening stores first in Lautoka and Nadi (western Fiji) in 2012, then in Suva at  ‘fashion central’, Palm Court Arcade in 2015.
Pacific Islands Art’s distinctive hand-printed designs are created by its co-director and brand stylist, Amber Jennings.  PIA is managed by a husband-wife team, (Tahitian) Tehau Guyot and (Fijian) Amber Jennings, with Amber serving as chief designer and brand stylist. Both are also models and are their brand’s best ambassadors.

Each PIA garment is influenced by Tahitian art with references to Pacific connectivity, and because they are individually produced, each garment is unique, a distinct work of Pacific heart.

Always a popular draw at fashion events, the vibrant collection in this story (on Fijian top model Jorja Naidu) was launched at the inaugural Fijian Fashion Festival in June, held at the Grand Pacific Hotel.

The Bottega Gold Fijian Fashion Festival (BGFFF) [was] an initiative of the [then] Fashion Council of Fiji, its core aim [was] to connect Fijian designers directly to external markets and global trading platforms.”
THE END [ Dusk Devi 2018]
 

Unfortunately the Fashion Festival was short-lived, 2019 was not the success 2018 was, and no Fijian designer was connected to external markets and global trading platforms. Such a shame.

In 2018, Fiji based PIA was stocked internationally in New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, American Samoa, Japan, New Zealand, Hawaii, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Tahiti and just about to open in Brisbane, Australia. Despite scaling back, PIA continues to be one of Fiji’s more successful fashion businesses, representative of Fiji’s MULTIcultural society and its Polynesian connections.

[see slideshow of the 2018 supplement produced by TS’s parents]

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Published for The Stylander. Monday April 7, 2025

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