Papa & hoa

In our country, we know the story of Māori deity Papatūānuku and her husband Ranginui. Papatūānuku is our mother earth - so deeply in love with the sky father that they refused to part. Their six children were suffocating between them until one son, Tāne-mahuta, leaned back against his mother and pushed his father away with his legs. His legs are represented by the tallest tree in our lands, the mighty Kauri.

Our practice has the highest focus on the earth - taking care of her with utter respect, upholding her mana. She is the first sound you hear when our name is spoken.
Hoa is short for ehoa - friend.

Because everything we create is a friend to our soil. It causes no harm from growth through production, through lifetime use and through its return to the earth.

Papahoa means mouldboard

The blade at the front of the plough that cuts into the soil, lifts it and turns it over - exposing roots and underground life. In farming, this can damage the soil. We don't use one. We're here to cut through the way things have always been in textiles - to lift it up, turn it over ans expose what's underneath. Our name is our commitment to being part of that turning.

The use of Te Reo

We’re on Aotearoa whenua - the land of New Zealand. There is an indigenous language here that was almost lost and is still finding its footing. Naming our soil-to-oneone textile company in Te Reo is our small contribution towards holding the mana of this language and our acknowledgement that this land, and its language, come first.

Papa in linen

Papamuka is the maori name for linen - a fibre we’re proud to be cultivating on our regenerative land across Canterbury. bIt connects our name to our crop in a way we didn't plan, but feel grateful for. Every part of the linen plant can be used: excess seed eaten and pressed for oil, the fibre pulled from the stems, the shives used in mulch and as carbon matter in our composts. Nothing wasted - as it should be.