Sunshine state strong contender for Debut title

SYDNEY: Queensland fashion and accessory designers have already dominated proceedings at annual trade fair competition 'Debut'.

Local brands Moon Goddess, Flying High, Laoise Design, Zemelita, Jinyana, Krista Hochwallner and Lost Not Lonely were among 12 finalists selected for the March 2009 program. The Queenslanders will go head-to-head with Victorian labels Mopoke, Texas Johnny, Soul by Deana, Yamilla Guedez and Sheena Murray from New South Wales for top prizes across apparel and accessory categories.

Organised as part of spring/summer trade fair Fashion Exposed & Preview, staged at the Sydney Exhibition Centre from March 8 to 10, Debut offers up-and-coming brands a chance to showcase their collections in a specially branded area along with a prize pool valued at $6,000. This includes an individual location at the trade fair for the following season and trend workshops with international forecasting agency WGSN.

Debut curator Uli Hassel, who will sit on a three man judging panel, said more than 40 applications had been received for the latest instalment of Debut. It is understood organisers are currently chasing high-profile judges across media, retail, design and styling including a representative from Vogue online.

Collections would be judged on originality, innovation and freshness along with execution, quality of materials, marketability, "wow" factor with the winner announced after a runway show on the first day of the fair.

Finalist Krista Hachwallner said while winning the competition would be "fantastic recognition", she was focused on driving sales at her stand in the specially-branded Debut precinct. Hachwallner launched her label in spring/summer 2008 and is currently stocked at Brisbane boutique The Tribune as well as her own online store.

"It was great to start off by selling through a retailer such as The Tribune who are very supportive of young designers and also direct through the website as both have enabled me to get a lot of feedback from customers," she said. "That feedback has enabled me to improve the business and my designs early on and Fashion Exposed is the next big step in making the label more widely available at retail."