South Island designers get time in the sun
Christchurch designers had the opportunity to show off their talent at the first of what is hoped to be an annual trade and public event late last year.
Dubbed Style Christchurch by show producer Andhy Blake, the event saw garments from 12 well-known designers take to the catwalk in front of a sold out audience of almost 400.
Local Canterbury labels Sonya Smith, Sharon Ng, Sakaguchi and retailers Gas Clothing, owned by All Black Dan Carter, and Frankie showed alongside others from around the country including Nom D, Andrea Moore and Elusiv.
Blake said he came up with the idea of putting together a Christchurch show after working as a production assistant at Air New Zealand Fashion Week in 2006.
"Through that I understood just how excited people are about what we are doing here in New Zealand with fashion. I also realised that designers in Christchurch weren't getting all the attention they deserved so I thought why not put on a show."
Encouraged by the success of similar concepts like I-D Dunedin and the Melbourne Fashion Festival, Blake secured a three-year sponsorship agreement with the Christchurch City Council to produce the event.
"The event has been confirmed to run for three years and in that time I hope to use it to establish Christchurch as a major New Zealand fashion destination, inspire more designers to use the city as their base and encourage young Cantabrians to take up a career in fashion production," Blake said.
The success of the first show, which cost just over $100,000 to produce, exceeded all expectations. Media from across New Zealand flew intro cover it and it was deemed as one of the highlights of Cup Week - the country's leading horse racing event.
"I was really amazed by how much everybody got behind it. I've had lots of calls already from designers around New Zealand wanting to take part next year which is great. I am planning on four different shows for that and I really believe this will grow into huge event and put Christchurch fashion out there for everybody to see."
The next event will be staged in November 2008.
By Nicole Currin-Birch