This year marks the debut of New Zealand Fashion Week's Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition. Here, Erin O'Loughlin takes a peek at a handful of the finalists.
The Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition is new to New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) in 2010. Fashion design students and recent graduates from all over the country were encouraged to enter the competition by uploading three of their designs to Facebook.
Ten finalists were selected and the Facebook community encouraged to vote for their favourites. The three designers judged most popular on Facebook will hit the NZFW catwalk in late September as part of the Westpac Red Collection Show, for the final round of judging.
The winner of the competition walks away with $5000, a one-year mentorship with a New Zealand designer, and one year of business banking advice from Westpac.
The Gentle Woman
Hermione Flynn is the woman behind this old-worldly and man-style label. The Wellington-based fashion designer, artist and singer has already begun to receive attention on New Zealand’s fashion blogs.
Garments featured in Flynn’s first commercial collection include a woollen, floor-length shirt dress with a nude front and black back, and a woollen button-up shirt-cape with grey and navy colour blocking.
Among the more interesting detailing is the inclusion of mock hair on multiple garments, including a hair neck-tie. A number of work-ready coats round out the collection.
Philippa & Alice
Massey University graduates Philippa Lake and Alice Howard teamed up to create the Philippa & Alice label earlier this year, and their collection of whimsical designs has already earned them one stockist.
Designs in their current collection include the black Vanessa dress which takes a cue from the body-con trend, with shoulder ruffles added for softness. Elsewhere the colour palette is inspired by natural creams and blues, with an injection of navy in the woollen Emile coat.
The designers obviously have a penchant for creating interesting collars, with many popping up in the range.
What is Your Damage
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology student Jessica Britten created a number of garments for her autumn/winter 2010 collection. Bodysuits, bike shorts and blazers all get a run in the young womenswear range, as does a hand-knitted cardigan that defies the Balmain shoulder.
Called ‘Hole in the plan’, the cardigan features ‘holes’ where the shoulders normally sit. And while possums are much loved in Australia, they are a national pest in New Zealand, explaining perhaps how one furry friend ended up as a ‘Cuddle Me Possum Vest’.
The colour palette featured in Britten’s designs – beyond the brown possum fur – includes peach, cream, black and a patterned blue-grey.
Your Confusion, My Illusion
Auckland University of Technology graduate Nazy Naser has drawn on futuristic inspirations to create her sculpted, monotone collection. More fashion-as-art than ready-to-wear, Naser’s designs include a sculpted shift-like dress; a long-sleeve, zip-front jacket; and a panelled skirt.
Each garment is crafted from the same grey fabric and echoes the ‘cyber surf’ look that trend forecasting agency WGSN referenced for spring/summer 2010/11.
Warrior Goddess
It is unusual to find a fashion designer who has their own label, website and e-store before they have even graduated from their design degree.
Wellington-based Sophie Burrowes is one such designer. Having established her eponymous label in 2009 at the age of 19, this young designer is already an old hand at hiring models and photographers to shoot her collections.
She also already has one stockist under her belt in the form of Dunedin boutique Belle Bird. The designs for which Burrowes is nominated include a black silk shirt, a diamond weave bra and a loose and flowing ‘goddess’ skirt. Fabrics include silk and the colour palette incorporates black, bronze, peach and white.