Aztec Linen Dress

This is a dress created by New York based fashion designer Nanette Lepore. The fabric is decorated with a patterning that is distinctive to Fijian masi (decorated tapa cloth or barkcloth). Masi makers use stencils to decorate tapa cloth, and sometimes particular artists or villages develop recognisable styles and compositions.

Significance

Upon its release in 2013, the dress became the focus of controversy because it was described and marketed as an Aztec Linen Dress. Artists and cultural commentators from Fiji and other Pacific Islands protested at what they saw as an appropriation and misrepresentation of the Fijian masi tradition.Images and commentary about the dress travelled quickly mainly through online social media. Significantly, the Aztec Linen Dress was one of several Pacific oriented, yet internationally staged, intellectual and cultural property controversies in mid 2013. These included attempts by Fiji Airways to copyright a selection of Fijian masi motifs; and the release (and subsequent withdrawal) by Nike (a sportswear manufacturer) of womens sports leggings decorated with stylised male Samoan tattooing motifs.

Collaborations

Te Papa has other collection items that feature the use of tapa motifs in contemporary fashion design and fabrics. They include the collaboratively designed tapa jacket and dress by fashion designer Doris de Pont and Contemporary Niuean/New Zealand artist and writer John Pule.

Acquisition history

The dress was purchased by Te Papa in 2013