• Finance Minister Nicola Willis has been criticised for not wearing a New Zealand designer at the 2025 Budget announcement.
• Fashion industry figures have emphasised the importance of supporting the local fashion industry.
• The New Zealand fashion industry contributed $7.8 billion to the economy in 2023, employing 76,000 workers.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered New Zealand’s 2025 Budget on Thursday in a vivid blue pencil dress.

The distinctive outfit is believed to be the Nouvelle Sculpt Stretch Crepe Dress, from British womenswear label The Fold London.

It was a sartorial choice that sent all the wrong messages, according to one New Zealand fashion designer.

Caroline Marr, owner of Auckland-based fashion brand The Carpenter’s Daughter, called Willis’ decision not to wear a Kiwi brand during the high-profile moment a signal of “total disrespect” to the local fashion industry.

“We have wonderful designers here, Jacinda [Ardern] got it right by wearing NZ-made as much as possible. Our leaders should also be doing that. Be proud of your nation and what we make here.”

Online, Willis’ dress retails for $1100. Marr said that while Willis and other New Zealanders can afford to spend that amount on a garment, the money “would be better in our pockets or country than overseas”.

The Fold say Willis' dress features "a feminine square neckline, elbow-length sleeves and a centre-back vent for effortless movement".

Asked why she chose not to wear a New Zealand designer on Budget day, Willis told the Herald: “Like most Kiwis, I buy my clothes from a range of places, and I enjoy wearing a lot of New Zealand-made and designed clothing.

“However, I don’t think the focus should be on what I wear, but rather the substance of our Government’s policies.”

While symbolic, Marr said, any public display of support for New Zealand designers is of value.

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“Being dressed in a NZ designer would help our industry hugely, as it is struggling. We need to be front and centre to our nation and the world.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis got a standing ovation from her colleagues after reading her Budget 2025 in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Clothing and textile advocacy collective Mindful Fashion NZ released a report in 2024 that found the NZ fashion clothing and textile industry contributed $7.8b to the local economy in 2023, accounted for 1.9% of GDP, and employed 76,000 workers.

But chief executive Jacinta Fitzgerald said the industry is facing significant challenges right now.

“Supporting local is one way that everyone can contribute to creating a more prosperous New Zealand for all of us.

“Every dollar you spend is a vote of support for that business.”

Mindful Fashion chief executive Jacinta Fitzgerald says the fashion industry is facing significant challenges right now.

Fitzgerald said when you buy from a local brand, “you are not only supporting a local business that pays tax here, and employs staff here and therefore keeping the value in the NZ economy, but you are also supporting the many often small businesses that they work locally with to bring that product to life so it has a huge flow-on impact”.

“There is great pride and leadership in standing strong in NZ fashion as a creative and cultural representation of who we are as a nation.”