A newborn baby graced the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week on Tuesday.
Ngawaiata Irirangi Taimania Tipene - the daughter of The Casketeers couple Kaiora and Francis Tipene - made her catwalk debut during the poignant Campbell Luke showcase on the first day of the event.
Kaiora Tipene carried her newborn in a woven blanket by Māori wool company Noa Blanket Co to mark the closing of the show, a sartorial celebration of life at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre.
Tipene and Francis, the directors of the Auckland-based Tipene Funerals, became household names in Aotearoa following the launch of their reality TV series The Casketeers in 2018, which documented the running of their funeral homes and the stories of bereaved families.
The celebrity funeral directors welcomed Ngawaiata - their sixth child together and first daughter - last week, five weeks earlier than expected. Announcing her arrival on social media, they called their newborn daughter their "princess".
In September last year, the Tipenes announced they were taking a break from their career as funeral directors to spend more time with their family.
Ahead of her and Ngawaiata's special runway appearance on Tuesday, Tipene took to her Instagram Story to give her followers a glimpse behind-the-scenes.
"Believe it or not, this mother - straight out of hospital, down the runway," she said.
In a post to her Instagram on Wednesday morning, Tipene shared several shots of her having fun at the photobooth outside the Fashion Week runway, captioning the snaps: "It's always fun having a jam at the photobooth. Be it supermodel, hapu, postpartum bod. Whatever the tinana. Just give it a go. And feel that 'werk'."
