NZ Fashion Week: All Blacks, Black Ferns Sevens players stun in most diverse Jockey show ever

The long-awaited Jockey show finally returned to the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week 2023: Kahuria today after a four-year hiatus.

It’s one of the most hotly anticipated shows each year, and for good reason – it’s all about embracing your confidence and having a good time. And today’s show felt like a celebration – not just of its return, but of possibly the most diverse group of models we’ve seen at a Fashion Week show to date.

On Day 3 of NZFW, rugby players, influencers and models of all ages, sizes and abilities strutted their stuff on the runway at Auckland’s Viaduct Events Centre.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jockey show without appearances from a few All Blacks and Black Ferns – it’s a rite of passage for our rugby stars. This year, Sevu Reece, George Bower and Angus Ta’avo quickly got into the swing of things and even dropped a few cheeky dance moves on the runway alongside Black Ferns Alana Bremner and Amy du Plessis.

First-time Jockey model Bower told the Herald’s Lillie Rohan this year that posing for the annual shoot in his undies had given him confidence – and he brought it to the runway in spades today as he swapped one front row for another.

“I was like, ‘what?’ Do they really want a front rower posing in a Jockey shoot?’” he told the Herald last month.

“But yeah, I kind of saw the opportunity and was like ‘yeah, might as well. You only live once’.”

Other celebrity cameos at the show included model and influencer Viarni Bright, who won the 2017 season of The Bachelor NZ, and influencer and Fashion Week ambassador Jess Molina.