Collection by iD Dunedin finalist Shelby Tuinman-Bell.
The finalists have been chosen for the prestigious iD International Emerging Designer Awards, which will see thirty-nine emerging designers from around the globe show their creativity at the Dunedin Town Hall on Thursday 17th March. They were selected from more than 150 entries from 15 countries as well as New Zealand and will compete for top prizes including a first place prize of $6000. This year marks the 12th awards competition which is run annually and supported by the Otago Polytechnic. It’s currently Australasia’s only international emerging fashion competition.
According to this year’s selection committee, the overall standard of entries is the highest yet and narrowing down the finalists was a difficult job for the panel made up of Kiwi fashion designers Denise L’estrange-Corbet (WORLD), Adrian Hailwood, Tanya Carlson and Company of Strangers Sara Munro.
“Every entry gave us something new and unique,” says Tanya Carlson, “But the finalists we chose really stood out for their creativity, technique and individualism. Many are exploring the often-complex relationships between the past and today’s modern society, where excess, fleeting trends and an insatiable hunger for the new and now is an all too common experience. As a reaction to this many of our finalists have a renewed interest in technique inspired by crafts, exploring culturally diverse methods of creating collections based on the ideals of slow fashion, opposed to the speed of global clothing manufacture. Visually, the collections will amaze crowds with bold colours, innovative techniques, detailing, hand-made lace and fabrics, and inspiring creativity.”
Collection by iD Dunedin finalist Sophie Collier.
The finalists can look forward to fantastic networking opportunities alongside a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be critiqued by some of the world’s most influential fashion leaders according to iD Committee Chair Cherry Lucas. This year’s judging panel includes iD international guest designer Emilia Wickstead. “The Awards are about showcasing the very future of fashion as we help launch the careers of our finalists in an international context – and this year will be no exception,” says Ms Lucas.
New Zealand will be represented by the following finalists:
– Auckland University of Technology: Tia Feng, Nicola Luey
– Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, Auckland: Benjamin Farry, Kingkang Chen
– Massey University, Wellington: Sarah Parker, Sophie Collier
– Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin: Andrea Short, Brittany Pooley, Shelby Tuinman-Bell, Sophie Ball.
Among the other countries represented by finalists are Australia, China, Italy, Singapore, Argentina, Spain, UK, Japan, Hong Kong and India.
The prizes on offer include NZ$6,000 for the first place winner, second place $4,000, $2000 for third place, with other special prizes including The Fabric Store Prize worth $3000 (includes $2000 worth of fabric), the Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall Prize for the most commercial collection and the Susie Staley Special Achievement Award ($1000) to honour former iD Chair Susie Staley’s immense contribution to the event.
The 2016 winners of the iD International Emerging Designer Awards will show their collections at the iD Dunedin Fashion Show held at Dunedin’s Railway Station on Friday March 18 and Saturday March 19.
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Collection by iD Dunedin finalist Nicola Luey.
Images from iD Dunedin