At 8 months, Koa might just be the youngest (and most adorable!) stall holder at TLBM; she’s been coming since she was three weeks old. 

Her parents Arnau Prades and Julia Oliver (left)moved from Barcelona to the Mount in 2019 — they fell in love with Aotearoa after a trip in 2015. “We always had New Zealand stuck in our minds so we decided to leave our jobs and everything we had in Spain to come back here and start from scratch.”

Julia stumbled upon the idea for Ruapuke when she was looking for a good-looking, thin, quick-drying beach towel, and soon realised there weren’t any. They started importing some to gauge demand... “And I can tell you, I would’ve never imagined arriving where we are here today,” says Julia.

Ruapuke towels are made of Turkish cotton and are sized in singles, roundies and big. “We love using the big blanket as a family towel at the beach, and in winter, we use the same one to keep cosy watching TV.”

Right now, the colourway includes lots of pretty pastels and neutrals, but standby for the spring collection as Julia promises some bold colours.