Jordaan Tuitama's business is proof that one man's trash is another man's treasure.
Creative Taro has taken off, selling upcycled hats – mostly bucket hats – made from retro rugby jerseys, duvets and other discarded materials. Tuitama told Breakfast he wanted to create sustainable fashion pieces.
"It's about doing your part in terms of the environment but also kind of looking swaggy at the same time," he said.
"We always look up to our fathers, my dad was a West Auckland representative Samoan man who thought he dressed suave so I got my fashion sense off of him, and he obviously loved sports, basketball, rugby league, rugby union.
"So yeah, [I] got it off him and kind of just evolved from there."
Tuitama said he particularly loves rugby league and often does custom orders with sentimental items.
"What I wanted to do is provide fans, especially Warriors fans – who are the greatest fans in the world – something to wear that's one off, only one of one ever made, it's custom," he said.
"Sometimes it's from peoples' personal collection... sometimes it's a jersey that their father once wore that they might not be able to fit any more, so they want to wear it.
"People get in touch with me and I create for them a bucket hat. It's one of one, there's only one of them ever made in the world, it's theirs. They get to wear it to the game, wear it on game day, show it off down at the pub. All that kind of jazz."
He said the most important thing was the kaupapa of kaitiakitanga, caring for the natural world.
"I do that through fashion and upcycling," Tuitama said.
"The business side of it will be great, the kaupapa is more important."
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