Amazing things have happened in fashion design in Aotearoa - in recent years, Maori and Pacific motifs have even found their way to the runways of Paris and New York. Freestyle celebrates the fusion of culture and style unique to this place, screening on Maori Television on Saturdays at 7pm.Amazing things have happened in fashion design in Aotearoa - in recent years, Maori and Pacific motifs have even found their way to the runways of Paris and New York. Freestyle celebrates the fusion of culture and style unique to this place, screening on Maori Television on Saturdays at 7pm.Freestyle is a half-hour magazine show with a finger on the pulse of health, beauty and fashion, to create a style file for the style-conscious viewer.

The show is split into fun and informative segments. Auahiana is an insider's guide to the most up-to-date looks in magazines, and on catwalks. E Mara! features bloke's bloke and roving reporter Matua Parkinson, a metro male in the making as he gets a new hair-do, tries bikram yoga and finds out if blondes really do have more fun. Te Rakeitanga is all in te reo, and looks at how designers can honour and retain the past while moving into the future. And Tohunga Taa Whatu features chats in studio with some of finest emerging talent in fashion design.

"As more Maori choose to work in this creative industry, we need to show taiohi - youth - that it can be done, and done with style," says producer Veeshayne Patuwai, who with husband Tamati also presents the show. "Freestyle achieves that, and represents Maori in a way that's fresh, innovative, and most importantly, positive."

Vesshayne and Tamati have many years of media experience between them. Veeshayne won the Mobil Radio Award for best newcomer in 1995, and has also won numerous acting roles, while Tamati is a trained actor who has starred in numerous high-profile television shows and films.

Home-grown and funky, Freestyle screens on Maori Television on Saturdays at 7.00 PM.

Press Release: Maori Television Service

12/08/08