Kia Kaha Clothing
Expanding the Range
The Kia Kaha store (Click to enlarge)
The Kia Kaha label quickly expanded to cover a range of T-shirts, polos, caps, beanies, cargo pants, hooded sweatshirts, polar fleeces, jackets, track pants and 100% New Zealand lambswool jerseys.
However, in 2003 a new direction opened up when golfer Michael Campbell approached the company through his management group with an exciting proposition. At that stage Michael was reviewing his existing sponsorship arrangements with golfing equipment and clothing suppliers and saw an opportunity to develop his own clothing label and to build his own brand.
"He wanted a Māori label – a Māori brand to take his Māori identity to the world – and he saw us as the leading Māori clothing label."
Michael had been a fan of Kia Kaha for years, and had Kia Kaha clothing sent over to him in Europe and the US for his personal wear. But because of his existing sponsorship commitments wasn't able to wear the label on the golf course.
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Michael Campbell in Kia Kaha designs
(Click to enlarge)
"We offered to come up with a label and design garments in Michael's name, in association with Kia Kaha. So we went with 'Cambo' – which is his nickname, and took it from there," explains Dan.
The Cambo label was launched, appropriately, at the New Zealand Open Golf Championship and the new range of clothing quickly became available in over 300 golf shops in New Zealand. However, Dan says that when Michael Campbell became the first New Zealand golfer to win the US Open Championship in 2005 international sales took off. On his final round he wore a Kia Kaha polo featuring a mangopare (hammerhead shark), a symbol of strength and determination. Orders for that shirt skyrocketed.
"We've now got a distributor in Australia and distributors in the United States. We're talking to Canada, Dubai, South Africa, the UK and Japan, and we hope to have distributors on board by the end of 2006."
At New Zealand Fashion Week in 2005 the company launched a third label – Charmaine Love. This followed on from Charmaine's success at the 2004 Westfield Style Pacifika in Auckland where she took out the supreme award. She also won awards in the 'menswear' and 'three piece collection' categories. The new label is now well on its way, with Charmaine establishing herself as the designer of choice to a string of international movie and music celebrities.
