The Newmarket Young Fashion Designer Award is heating up: the judges have been announced and entrants are into the first phase of the competition.
Four Live presenter Shannon Ryan is one of the big names on the judging panel, and will be doubling as MC for the awards night in October. With a keen eye and love for fashion, Ryan jumped at the chance to be involved.
“It’s inspiring to see young people showcasing such potential at this early stage in their lives and I’m really excited to see first-hand the creativity that this competition can generate,” says Ryan.
Coming from a range of expertise, the rest of the judging panel consists of representatives from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Business World Travel and Newmarket Business Association.
2012 Winning Design by Yeonjae Choe
The competition has been split into two categories this year, junior designers, for 16 to 17 year olds, and senior designers, for 18 to 19 year olds. Both categories have specialised judges alongside the overall panel.
The junior category will have Emily Miller-Sharma, designer from successful women’s label Ruby. The judges for the senior category are Paul Serville of Servilles, Editor of Cleo Magazine Megan Bedford and designer Vicki Taylor from ‘taylor’.
Head judge Belinda Watt, Head of Department of Fashion Design at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, says they will be looking for stand out creative journals and designs that showcase a strong thought process.
“The creative process showing a design that works both on paper and as a garment will be the key to the finals. We are looking for New Zealand’s next fashion designer, someone who will flourish from receiving the Whitecliffe scholarship and has the potential to be the next success story in Newmarket,” says Watt.
Entrants are currently in the first phase of the competition, having submitted their creative journals for preliminary judging. Finalists will be announced this Thursday the 27th of June, and will then continue to the garment making phase.
The finalists will showcase their design at the awards night on Friday 11th October, where an overall winner will be chosen in both categories.
Watt says the creative journal is very important as it displays the thought process which goes into a design.
“Starting with the examination of a subject, moving on to exploring an idea, then sourcing references, putting together a plan and finally, the all-important execution, shows just how much work goes into making one item of clothing. It’s not as simple as some people may think,” says Watt.
Last year’s winner Yeonjae Choe had a very strong creative journal that dealt with the slaying of animals. It included images of slaughtered and skinned animals, and the contrast between flesh and skin. A well thought out study, Choe successfully brought her screen print sketches to life in the final garment.
This year the senior winner will receive a two year scholarship for Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, a two week internship with New Zealand designer Vicki Taylor and a trip for two to a ‘back stage experience’ at Australian Fashion Week thanks to M.A.C, Qantas and Business World Travel.
The junior prize will include a two week internship at RUBY and Liam’s workshop, with more prizes to be announced soon.
