Katie Lapwood (second from right) with models wearing her 2013 collection.
Talented young fashionista Katie Lapwood dreams of designing fashion features as part of a fashion team working for a glossy magazine.
She is grateful for her job at PAK‘nSAVE in Pukekohe for now, but when she walks through the magazine aisle at the supermarket, her thoughts drift to Vogue and Marie Claire.
Graduating this week with a Diploma from top Auckland fashion institute, NZ Fashion Tech, the former Pukekohe High School student skilfully combined champagne-coloured fabric made from eucalyptus trees with black lace embroidered with flowers in her collection, for the graduation catwalk show, called ’Enchantment’.
The glamorous garments drew praise from industry guests at NZ Fashion Tech’s annual graduate show which was attended by fashion luminaries like Liz Mitchell and Doris du Pont.
Katie’s inspiration came from her favourite designer Alex Perry.
“I combined all the ideas I liked in clothes I’ve seen and merged them into three outfits with an elegant twist. The fabrics I used were quite unique – the gold fabric called tencel is made from eucalyptus tree while the lace was already embroidered with the flowers so all my patterns had to be made specially so that I didn’t cut through too many flowers!” she says.
Katie speaks highly of an inspirational teacher at Pukekohe High School called Ms Drummond. “She just made fabric class so interesting and fun and it’s there that I learnt how to make my first basic skirt draft, block and pattern. It just amazed me how something went from being flat lines on paper into a piece of clothing to wear. From there I never looked back.”
“My aunty sent me the advert about NZ Fashion Tech and when I looked into it I found it was a lot different from other fashion courses out there because you actually had to physically sit down at a machine and sew to pass the course. There’s no giant lecture room where someone just tells you how to do it. You have to start from the beginning sewing a straight line and changing a needle, right through to making a tailored jacket at the end of the Diploma.”
“I have my job at Pukekohe PAK’nSAVE to go to once the course is finished and I’ll also look for a job in the fashion industry. I like designing and sewing for myself too, or for friends and family who come to me with ideas they want to bring to life,” says Katie.