Blue rain from a clear sky.
Our world a cube of sunlight —
but to the south
the violet admonition
of thunder.
Innocent as flowers
your eyes with their thick lashes
open in green surprise.
What have we to fear?
Frost and a sharp wind
reproach us,
and a tall sky pelts the roof
with blue flowers.
You and I in bed, my love,
heads leaning together,
merry as thieves
eating stolen honey —
what have we to fear
but a borrowed world
collapsing all about us
in blue ruins?
Blue rain
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell
Common Material
Contemporary fashion shaped by the city of
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Featuring the work of JPalm, Kowtow,
twenty-seven names, Yu Mei, and Cheshire
Architects, with contributions by:
Jimmy D, Chloe Hill, Lily Paris West,
and Gerard Dombroski.
5–7 June 2026
City Gallery Wellington
Te Whare Toi
Free entry
Programme of Events
Saturday, June 6th
11am
Runway Show: What is done in love will last forever
Presented by twenty-seven names
1.30pm
In Conversation: twenty-seven names
3pm
Runway Show: Salon Yu Mei
Presented by Yu Mei
Sunday, June 7th
11am
In Conversation: JPalm and JimmyD
12 pm
In Conversation: Yu Mei
1.30 pm
Panel: Regenerating Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Presented by Kowtow
Tickets go on sale on 5th May. Runway shows – presented by JPALM, Twenty Seven Names and Yu Mei – are $99. Talks are $39. Entry to the central exhibition is free.
About the Designers
Yu Mei is a Wellington-based leather goods label founded by Jessie Wong, known for its focus on considered design, material longevity and responsible stewardship. Yu Mei celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2025.
JPALM is an independent fashion project by Julia Palm. Working from a maker-led ethos and informed by subculture, JPALM fuses meticulous construction with rebellious utility.
twenty-seven names is a Wellington-based fashion label by Anjali Burnett and Rachel Easting. Known for its playful voice and ongoing commitment to local production, twenty-seven names has been a fixture of New Zealand fashion for 20 years.
Founded by Gosia Piatek in 2006, Kowtow is a Wellington-based fashion brand recognised internationally for its commitment to circular design and certified organic materials.
About Common Material
Common Material is an exhibition exploring contemporary fashion shaped by the city of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. It invites us to consider fashion not as a finished product, but as an ongoing negotiation. This is fashion that understands itself as part of an ecosystem: environmental, cultural, and social. It is within these conditions that new possibilities for fashion are being forged: adaptive, responsive, and rooted in place.
*Blue Rain by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell is excerpted and reproduced courtesy of the
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell Estate.
Design and art-direction by Seb McLauchlan & Johannes Bay