The brand name UrbanMaori is based on the Maori word ‘waimaori' meaning fresh water. ‘Urbanmaori' loosely translates as ‘pure street'. It is also made from two words, one Maori and one English, and that is the core of Urbanmaori's direction. It is not just Maori, nor is it just Pakeha... it is both. And so the design aesthetic of Urbanmaori fuses customary Maori motif with contemporary iconography one would see around town, on the T.V. or the Internet.

"The idea is that the world around us now is what we live in, and our design should reflect this. It is sometimes beautiful and is also sometimes controversial just like our history".