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Story: Home décor and furnishings

Pacific influences: a Pākehā interpretation

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Pacific influences: a Pākehā interpretation

Auckland interior designer Stephanie Overton relaxes on a sofa covered in brightly coloured cushions of traditional Tahitian appliqué work in 2009. Enthusiasm for incorporating Pacific-inspired designs based on tīvaevae quilts, weaving, tapa cloth and even traditional tattoos has grown since the 1980s, when Pasifika style first emerged.

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New Zealand Herald

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by Babiche Martens

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Home décor and furnishings – Nostalgia and materialism, 1960s to 2000s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/40727/pacific-influences-a-pakeha-interpretation (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 15 January 2013.