On the 12th of February 2018, His Excellency, Mr Maris Sangiampongsa held a private luncheon for this year’s YBLIS, all of whom specialised in the field of fashion. 

The attendees were; 

          Mr Adrien Taylor who founded ‘Offcut’, a fashion label which uses fabric offcuts to create hats. Ms Samantha Jones who owns and operates ‘Little Yellow Bird’, an ethical clothing company that uses sustainable materials and practices to create uniforms for workplaces. 

          Ms Jessie Wong who owns the Wellington based leather goods company ‘Yu Mei’, primarily creating handbags. 

          Mrs Pania Tucker the owner of ‘Pania Greenway Ltd; a fashion label that promotes indigenous culture and techniques.

          Mr Jason Lingard, the founder of the fashion Label ‘Jason Lingard’; combining gothic and Eastern elements into his clothing. 

          The representatives from the Asia New Zealand Foundation, Ms Adele Mason, Mr Adam McConnochie and Ms Rebecca Townsend Hill also attended the lunches, showcasing previous successes of the YBLIS programme. 

          Young Business Leaders Initiative (YBLIS) is a programme set up by ASEAN and facilitated in New Zealand by the Asia New Zealand Foundation. The initiative sends young entrepreneurs to various parts of Asia so as to encourage cooperation within Asia and New Zealand, and for the entrepreneurs to gather new knowledge from the region.