Mareva Bower Brings Her Story of Fashion, Family and Faith to PNG Fashion Week 2026

There are designers who follow fashion, and then there are designers who create from memory, instinct, faith and feeling.

Mareva Josephine Bower belongs to the latter.

Her creative world is built from the experiences that shaped her: a mother sewing late into the night, childhood visits to fabric stores, the elegance of 1990s fashion, the quiet beauty of the ocean, the earthy colours of the Australian landscape, the sacred values of Fa’a Samoa and the love of a large, multicultural family.

Her work does not shout for attention. It draws people in through confidence, simplicity and intention.

Mareva is a designer, stylist, creative director, wife, mother and grandmother. She is also a woman stepping boldly into a new season of her life—one in which ideas that have lived quietly in her imagination are finally being given room to breathe.

Following her appearance at Paradise Runway in Brisbane on 1 August 2026, Mareva will travel to Papua New Guinea to present her work at PNG Fashion Week 2026 at APEC Haus in Port Moresby.

For Mareva, it is more than another fashion show. It is an opportunity she describes as a leap of faith and a moment her family will never forget.

The Family Behind the Designer

Mareva was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1979 and has lived in Australia since she was two years old.

She is the youngest of eight children—seven girls and one boy—and was raised in a close Pentecostal Christian family. Her mother, Pauline Vandermade, is of Samoan, Dutch and Tongan heritage, while her father, Josephi, is Samoan. Both were born and raised in Upolu, Samoa. Her mother’s family comes from Matautu Tai, while her father is from Apia.

Although Australia is the country in which Mareva was raised and continues to call home, New Zealand remains special as her birthplace. Samoa is the island home to which she has returned throughout her life. In 2019, her family built a home in Apia, strengthening a connection that has never been lost.

Mareva is married to her “favourite person in the world,” Maciu Abraham Bower, who is of Fijian and Niuean heritage. Together they have built a deeply multicultural family grounded in Pacific identity, Christian faith and love.

She is a mother of four: Zechariah, Serena, Ella and Tommy. Her family has since grown to include Zechariah’s partner, Marlyah, and Mareva’s two granddaughters, Alaia and Kaimani.

Her husband and children are not simply supporters of her work. They are her muse, her encouragement and the people who continue to believe in her, even in moments when she retreats into herself.

Behind the confidence of the designer is a naturally quiet and reflective woman. Mareva admits that she can be shy and sometimes disappears from busy spaces—not because she is uninterested, but because solitude is where she regains her strength.

She steps away to process the moment, appreciate the people involved and pray over the happiness and success of others.

It is an important part of her story. Mareva’s quietness is not an absence of courage. It is the place from which her courage grows.

The Woman Who Taught Her Everything

At the centre of Mareva’s creative story is her mother.

Pauline was a pastor’s wife, a powerful preacher, mentor, prayer warrior, provider and community leader. She worked within women’s ministries, facilitated workshops and guided women of different ages through faith and life.

She also sewed.

Pauline created everyday clothing, church garments, school formal dresses, curtains, pillowcases, bedding, baby clothes, bridal gowns and bridesmaids’ attire. She made special white garments for White Sunday and precious outfits for baby dedications and baptisms.

For the young Mareva, fabric stores were almost another kind of home.

She and her siblings knew textile stores, craft sections, seamstresses and dressmakers throughout the suburbs. They watched their mother work within a budget without undervaluing the businesses or people who assisted her. Pauline searched for bargains, shared her knowledge freely and encouraged others to support the same suppliers and craftspeople she trusted.

She never gatekept information.

To Mareva, this was creativity, service and business operating together. Her mother taught her that beauty could be created without compromising honesty, fairness or respect.

Mareva remembers accompanying her mother on shopping trips and watching her prepare clothing for every kind of occasion. She grew up between thrift stores and prestigious department stores, including her mother’s favourite, David Jones.

That contrast helped shape Mareva’s eye. She learned that style was not defined by price alone. Something valuable could be found in a second-hand shop, while something luxurious could be appreciated for its construction and finish.

She developed what she describes as “expensive taste,” but also an understanding that imagination could transform the ordinary.

Some of Mareva’s earliest memories come from sitting on a bed with her siblings during the 1980s, watching their parents prepare for weddings, dinners and church events. Her mother’s wardrobe was filled with colourful dinner dresses, while her father had suits ready for every occasion.

Fashion was not introduced to Mareva through a textbook. It entered her life through the rituals of family.

Creativity Beyond Clothing

Mareva’s creativity has never been limited to garments.

She has always understood the way colour, texture and arrangement can change how a person feels. She would rearrange rooms to suit her personality or create an atmosphere for a particular mood.

When Mareva and her husband purchased their properties, she coordinated and managed the interiors—from kitchens, lounges and bedrooms to bathrooms, laundries, yards and common spaces. At one stage, she transformed a garage into a retreat for her hardworking husband.

Her aesthetic embraces French provincial design, Art Deco influences and rustic furniture. For several years, she and Maciu restored and upcycled old furniture together before selling the completed pieces.

The work was deeply fulfilling.

These projects revealed something fundamental about Mareva: she does not only see what an object is. She imagines what it could become.

That same instinct now appears in her fashion practice through deconstruction, reconstruction and the bringing together of unexpected elements. She is interested in transformation—not for the sake of novelty, but for the feeling that emerges when something is thoughtfully reimagined.

A Designer Led by Feeling

Mareva cannot identify one moment when she realised fashion would become part of her life. She says she always knew.

Inspiration finds her everywhere: textile stores, craft sections, art galleries, museums, parks and city streets. It may come through the movement of trees, the colours of winter or the appearance of a bench in a park.

These observations carry her into what she calls her “creative bubble”—a private internal world where she feels fully present, connected and happy.

Her training has come through several pathways. She has undertaken formal study, learned through family, experimented independently and developed her ability through experience. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, she completed a styling course before later working in aviation.

Fashion, however, remained with her.

Mareva does not believe people simply give up on something they were born to do. A person may pause, take another direction or focus on other responsibilities, but the creative instinct remains.

For her, fashion is not an interest that can be switched off. It is her niche, her love language and her happy place.

The Meaning of Marèva

Mareva’s brand carries her own name: Marèva.

As a child, she did not always appreciate having a name that no one else seemed to share. She once wished for a more familiar name—something that would allow her to blend in.

With time, that discomfort became gratitude.

Mareva came to understand that her mother had chosen something unique for her. Her name was not common, blended or easily forgotten. It was different—and so was she.

That acceptance became the foundation of her brand.

Marèva represents individuality, calmness and navigation. The ocean holds particular significance for the designer. Being near water is where she feels peaceful, relaxed and most able to create.

The brand reflects that emotional freedom. Mareva is not interested in designing for only one body, ethnicity or type of person. Her approach is versatile and inclusive, embracing people from different backgrounds, shapes, sizes and walks of life.

She wants people to feel happy when they wear her work.

One of the greatest compliments she has received from a model was simple: “I feel empowered.”

For Mareva, hearing those words from someone she had not personally known was enormous. It meant the garment had communicated what she wanted it to say.

If her clothing could speak, its message would be equally direct:

“Look at me. I am confident.”

Simplicity Without Silence

Mareva’s work is recognisable through its restraint.

She is drawn to muted colours, quieter compositions and pieces that do not depend on excessive visual noise. She does not design according to every trend, nor does she allow herself to become distracted by what everyone else is producing.

She trusts her own memory and taste.

The fashion of the 1990s remains an important influence because she remembers how the clothing of that period made people feel. It was relaxed, confident and expressive without always being complicated.

Mareva describes herself as free-spirited and “unbothered.” That spirit appears in her designs. Her clothes are not trying to become something else. They are comfortable in their identity.

Beneath their simplicity is a deeper message about human connection. Mareva wants people to recognise something of themselves in her work and understand that, despite different backgrounds, people often move through the same emotions and experiences.

Her fashion is therefore about engagement. It invites people to feel free, happy, expressive and seen.

Culture Worn With Respect

Mareva’s identity crosses several cultures and nations.

She was born in New Zealand, raised in Australia and is deeply connected to her Samoan ancestry. Her husband brings Fijian and Niuean heritage into their family, while growing up in Sydney exposed her to Indigenous Australian culture and diverse migrant communities.

Of all the cultural values she carries, Fa’a Samoa remains sacred.

The Samoan way of life, sustained across thousands of years, is built upon community, humility, service, respect and unconditional hospitality. Mareva wants the world to understand the strength and beauty of this way of living.

She is particularly inspired by Samoan motifs and the meaning held within them. These symbols can communicate identity, courage, genealogy and spiritual belonging. For Mareva, using culture in fashion requires intention and respect.

Rather than placing cultural elements onto garments without context, she imagines building future collections around Samoan proverbs. The proverb would become the heart of the collection, guiding its theme, artistic direction and message.

Her ambition is not simply to display culture. It is to carry its meaning into a contemporary space without diminishing its integrity.

The Unexpected Call That Changed Everything

Mareva’s journey into the PNG Fashion Week family arrived through an unexpected opportunity.

She recalls receiving a call from David Kila-Pat, who invited her to join the Paradise Runway line-up. PNG Fashion Week Founder and Managing Director Philma Kelegai then gave her the encouragement and platform that would change the direction of her creative journey.

For Mareva, it was divine intervention.

Paradise Runway became her first major opportunity within the PNG Fashion Week international platform and placed her among designers, models, photographers, hair and makeup artists, media professionals and creative agencies.

More importantly, she found herself surrounded by people who understood her.

Tasks that once seemed difficult became natural because she was working within a community of creatives who shared the same energy, urgency and commitment. Through the platform, she began building a professional portfolio and a network capable of carrying her work into new places.

She describes PNG Fashion Week as the greatest source of opportunity in her fashion journey and remains deeply grateful for the support she has received.

Faith Through Every Door

Faith is inseparable from Mareva’s life.

She carries the words of Jeremiah 29:11, which speak of God’s plans for hope and a future, and Jeremiah 33:3, which calls upon believers to seek God and trust that He will answer.

One moment of confirmation came while Mareva was passing through immigration. The officer stamping her passport had Jeremiah 29:11 written on her phone cover.

Mareva immediately felt the message was meant for her.

Another deeply personal sign appeared around the birth of her first granddaughter, Alaia. Throughout the weeks leading up to the birth, Mareva repeatedly encountered the number 333. Alaia was ultimately born on 30 May at 3:33pm—a moment Mareva connected to Jeremiah 33:3.

These experiences have strengthened her belief that people and opportunities do not enter her life by accident.

She sees the recent growth of her fashion journey as a series of divine interventions—God bringing the right people together at the right time.

Coming to the PNG Runway

Being selected for PNG Fashion Week 2026 is an opportunity Mareva and her family will never forget.

Her collection will bring together the different places, cultures and decades that have shaped her.

Audiences can expect a rich palette inspired by Australian desert tones: deep reds, burnt oranges, ochre yellows, muted earthy browns and greens. The collection will also carry the spirit of her island home and the relaxed confidence of the 1990s.

Growing up in multicultural Australia, Mareva shared communities with people from Middle Eastern, European, Indigenous Australian and Pacific backgrounds. They were connected through faith, food, culture and tradition.

Her PNG Fashion Week collection draws from the way those different influences existed together.

The garments will explore deconstruction, reconstruction and reconnection. Each piece carries personal meaning, and Mareva is adding unexpected drama to the final designs—a new step for a designer usually known for simplicity and restraint.

She is allowing herself to be playful, take risks and step more fully into the design space.

When her final model leaves the runway, Mareva hopes audiences will remember one feeling: boldness.

She wants them to feel ready to take risks, explore new possibilities and have the confidence to be seen.

A Vision Beyond the Runway

Mareva’s ambitions extend beyond creating collections.

She wants to continue facilitating workshops and sharing knowledge about styling, clothing and the way people can dress with confidence. She is also interested in how the future of fashion will change and how stylists can help make that future more inclusive.

A deeply important part of her future vision is advocating for neurodiversity through fashion.

Mareva wants her work to create spaces in which people who experience and understand the world differently can feel represented, empowered and free. This connects naturally with her belief that fashion should reach people of every size, shape, ethnicity and background.

Internationally, she wants to expand throughout the Pacific and into the global market. She hopes to return to London, travel through Western and Eastern Europe and explore opportunities in Dubai and the Middle East.

Her interest goes beyond selling clothing. She wants to learn how different cultures wear clothing, why certain garments are important and how cultural meaning can be shared respectfully.

If the right international buyer, investor, collaborator or fashion house discovers her through PNG Fashion Week, Mareva knows exactly what she needs: a team capable of bringing the many garments in her imagination to life.

Her mind is already filled with ideas. What she wants is the opportunity, support and creative infrastructure to prove what she can do—and to promote Papua New Guinea and the wider South Pacific through the spaces she enters.

A Legacy of Freedom

Mareva wants to be remembered for touching hearts and souls.

She wants people to know that her work was intentional and honest—that it was never simply about participating in a fashion show or following a temporary trend.

For her, fashion is a way of feeling free.

It is happiness. Expression. Identity. Faith. Family. Healing. Movement.

She hopes her story will encourage the next generation to recognise their creative minds as gifts. Her advice to a young person who believes an international fashion career is impossible is to begin somewhere, remain faithful and trust the journey.

“Your ability to create something is a talent,” she says. “Through prayer, faith and starting somewhere, the rest will fall into place. Anything is possible.”

Mareva does not spend much time looking backwards. Like the forward-facing motifs in her tattoos, she carries each lesson into the next stage of her journey.

The experiences behind her are not an ending. They are testimonies—the evidence of chances taken, tears shed, sacrifices made and opportunities accepted.

Ten years from now, Mareva hopes to say that everything changed because she believed in the offers placed before her, took the leap of faith and respected every opportunity, whether great or small.

“I design because it makes me feel aligned, connected and alive,” she says.

That is the heart of Mareva Bower.

A woman who once wanted a more ordinary name has grown into a designer who embraces everything that makes her different. She is no longer trying to blend in.

She is moving forward—quietly, faithfully and confidently—carrying her family, her cultures and the vast creative world within her towards the PNG Fashion Week runway and far beyond it.