Miriama's fashion rethink -'I'M DOING IT MY MUM'S WAY'

Just like her resourceful mother, the journalist loves to give old garments new life and yes, she wears them well!

- Wendyl Nissen

When you look at the impeccably styled and glamorous broadcaster Miriama Kamo, you wouldn’t think she dresses in second-hand clothes.

But the queen of recycling has made it a mission to buy pre-loved clothing and wear it proudly as much as possible.

“I’m talking to you now in an entirely second-hand outfit,” says Miriama, 49, on a call from TVNZ headquarters, where she has been recording a Sunday episode. She has on a bright yellow sweatshirt with black leggings.

While some people might balk at wearing used clothing, Miriama grew up with it, so it comes easily to her.

“Growing up, we all wore second-hand clothes and I loved it,” she says. “My mum used to come home from the Methodist Mission with bags and bags full of clothes because there were five kids, and then we had cousins and wider whānau living with us as well. So it was just a really good cost-effective way of clothing us all.”

Miriama says her mother Mary was also really good at creating something fashionable out of these treasures.

“I remember when bubble skirts were in, she found a way to make them herself by buying these big, long hippy skirts, and then tucking them under and sewing the hem to the waistband. She was so creative.”

Miriama called her mother the “GOAT”.

“She was the ‘greatest of all time’, the OG [original] for me of zero-waste,” she laughs.

Miriama’s renewed interest in wearing recycled clothing began when she started a zero-waste journey in her own home.