Wawa’s Fashion Forge to Unveil Siringambi at PNG Fashion Week 2026

PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA — PNG Fashion Week has announced Warren Lumbia, founder and creative director of Wawa’s Fashion Forge, as one of the designers selected to showcase at PNG Fashion Week 2026, taking place at APEC Haus in Port Moresby on 18 and 19 September.

Lumbia will present Siringambi, a deeply personal collection exploring cultural inheritance, remembrance, faith, adversity and renewal. Drawing upon his Simbu and East Sepik heritage, the collection will reinterpret elements of Papua New Guinea’s traditional bilas through a contemporary design vocabulary.

Raised in Kundiawa Urban Ward 3, Lumbia’s earliest exposure to fashion came through the sewing room of his aunty, Shopie Kunal. Surrounded by textiles, patterns, sewing machines and garments from childhood, he developed an instinctive appreciation for the transformative possibilities of cloth.

Naturally reserved, Lumbia discovered that fashion offered him a language through which he could communicate ideas and emotions that were sometimes difficult to articulate through words.

“I may be quiet, but my designs allow me to express things that I sometimes cannot say with words,” he said.

The title Siringambi, an East Sepik name meaning “Morning Star”, carries profound personal significance for the designer.

The collection commemorates Lumbia’s late sister, Vero Siringambi Lumbia, while celebrating the birth of his daughter, who was given the same name. Through this shared name, the collection establishes an intimate connection between two generations—one held in enduring memory and another representing new life.

His daughter’s birth followed an extraordinarily difficult period during which Lumbia’s wife, having suffered a stroke, faced a high-risk pregnancy. The family endured considerable uncertainty, sustained by faith, prayer and the support of those closest to them.

The safe arrival of their daughter became a defining moment in Lumbia’s life. For the designer, Siringambi represents the emergence of light following darkness. It is simultaneously a memorial, a celebration and an affirmation that hope can endure through grief and adversity.

“This collection is more than fashion,” Lumbia said. “It is a tribute, a celebration of life and a reminder that even after difficult moments, there can still be light and hope.”

Lumbia’s progression into fashion has been neither conventional nor uninterrupted. Although creativity was present throughout his childhood, he began approaching fashion seriously only in 2024. Without formal design training, he developed his practice through independent experimentation, observation and persistence.

His journey also emerged from a difficult period of personal reckoning. After receiving educational opportunities through the sacrifice and support of his family, Lumbia acknowledges that he lost direction and failed to make full use of them.

Rather than concealing this chapter, he regards it as fundamental to understanding the designer and person he has become. The experience taught him humility, personal responsibility and the importance of recognising an opportunity while it is still present. It also gave him a greater appreciation for second chances.

His brand name, Wawa’s Fashion Forge, reflects this philosophy. The word “forge” evokes the deliberate shaping of something through labour, pressure and transformation. It describes both his approach to design and the rebuilding of his own life.

The finished garments may appear refined beneath the runway lights, but behind them are sleepless nights, difficult lessons and countless hours of work undertaken beyond public view.

Lumbia’s design identity is informed by the vivid traditional bilas of Simbu and the intricate cultural artistry of East Sepik. Curvilinear patterns, woven structures, bilum traditions and ceremonial adornment influence his approach to colour, texture, construction and movement.

Fabric weaving has become a distinguishing feature of his work, allowing him to bring traditional references into conversation with contemporary silhouettes.

For Lumbia, however, cultural inspiration must be accompanied by cultural responsibility. He believes designers should understand and respect the histories and meanings attached to traditional materials, symbols and practices before translating them into contemporary fashion.

Modern design, he believes, should extend the life of cultural knowledge rather than diminish it or disconnect it from its origins.

Through Wawa’s Fashion Forge, Lumbia seeks to demonstrate that Papua New Guinea’s cultural traditions can inform sophisticated, internationally relevant fashion while retaining their integrity.

His long-term ambition is to design and present traditional bilas representing all 22 provinces of Papua New Guinea on a major international runway, with New York Fashion Week occupying a prominent place in that vision.

His aspirations extend beyond the commercial development of his label. Lumbia envisions establishing a permanent fashion and cultural gallery in Port Moresby dedicated to preserving and presenting Papua New Guinea’s diverse forms of traditional dress.

The proposed gallery would document the materials, techniques, geographical origins and cultural meanings associated with bilas worn for ceremony, warfare, hunting and community life. It would serve as a visitor attraction and a place of cultural education, creative training and intergenerational knowledge transfer.

Such a space, Lumbia believes, could introduce international visitors to the cultural breadth of Papua New Guinea while creating tangible opportunities for designers, artisans and young creatives.

At the centre of this vision is his conviction that emerging Papua New Guinean designers should not feel compelled to abandon their cultural identities in pursuit of international recognition.

“Papua New Guinea has a powerful cultural identity that deserves to be seen on the world stage,” he said.

Lumbia will join a distinguished assembly of Papua New Guinean, Pacific and international designers at PNG Fashion Week 2026. His presentation of Siringambi is expected to be one of the event’s most emotionally resonant showcases—a collection carrying the memory of a beloved sister, the miracle of a daughter’s birth and the story of a designer who transformed personal adversity into creative purpose.

PNG Fashion Week 2026 will be staged at APEC Haus in Port Moresby on Friday, 18 September and Saturday, 19 September.

Friday’s program will feature the National Kolos Runway Competition and the National Student Fashion Show, while the principal PNG Fashion Week runway presentation will take place on Saturday evening.

Tickets are available exclusively online through the official PNG Fashion Week website.

Tickets for Friday are priced at K200 for VIP admission, K100 for General Admission and K50 for Standing. Saturday tickets are priced at K300 for VIP admission, K200 for General Admission and K100 for Standing. VIP admission includes drinks on the night.

Tickets and further event information are available at www.pngfashionweek.com/png-fashion-week-2026.

As Lumbia prepares to present Siringambi, his participation stands as a testament to the transformative capacity of fashion—to preserve memory, honour culture, redeem lost opportunities and carry deeply personal Papua New Guinean stories into the international imagination.