Award of Excellence and Menswear winner, Donna Drysdale from Tauranga. Image by Jackie Gay of Still Vision Photography.
The 2019 MLT Hokonui Fashion Design Awards brought together Southland’s fashion community and fashion fans from around the country for two evening events on Friday 26 July and Saturday 27 July. The Friday night Strictly Design Show announced the School section winners, with the Saturday night Gala Awards evening announcing the Open section winners.
The Supreme winner and recipient of the Mataura Licensing Trust Award of Excellence was Donna Dinsdale of Te Puke and Abby Clayton of Bayfield High School in Dunedin was awarded the Bernina Award of Excellence in the School section.
“The 2019 MLT Hokonui Fashion Design Awards was one of the best ever, with record entries and crowds attending , we witnessed some amazing designs from New Zealand and overseas with the quality of the garments being very high in both sections. This bodes well for the future of this event,” says Chair of the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards Committee, Sheree McIntyre.
The 2019 judging panel featured Sally-Ann Mullin, Fashion Director at Bauer Media, Wynn Crawshaw, designer and founder of Wynn Hamlyn and Sara Munro, designer and owner of Company of Strangers.
A record number of 254 entries were received this year, with 92 being submitted by schools throughout New Zealand. Over 1150 people attended the two evening awards shows, with live updates also being provided online by the Southland Times. Congratulations to all the winners.
Awards in each category are as follows:
School Section
Amoré – School Natural Fibres Award: Gemma Sims, St Matthew’s Collegiate, Masterton
Collective Design – School Streetwear Award: Chanel Morey, St Peter’s School, Cambridge
Macca Lodge – School Recycle Award: Abby Clayton, Bayfield High School, Dunedin
Regional Ford – School Nightlife Award: Amelia Parker, St Matthew’s Collegiate, Masterton
School Merit Awards
Luke Stonehouse (Streetwear)
Summer Phillips ( Streetwear)
Mikaela Yung (Recycled)
Neishyn Marsters (Natural Fibres)
Amelia Brash (Natural Fibres)
Kate Smaill (Nightlife)
Bernina – School Award of Excellence: Abby Clayton, Bayfield High School, Dunedin
Open Section
Hokonui Heritage Precinct – Open Avant Garde Award: Rachel McNab, ARA Institute of Canterbury
Carvin Streetwear – Open Streetwear Award: Viv Tamblyn, Gore
NetSpeed Broadband – Open collections Award: My City Collaboration, Wuhan Polytechnic, China
Apparel Magazine – Open Recycled Award: Debbie Smith, Gore
Farmlands/FMG – Open Menswear Award: Donna Dinsdale, Te Puke
Mitchell Mackersy Lawyers – Open Natural Fibres Award: Helen Marshall, Invercargill
PERONI – Open Nightlife Award: Lucy Hill, Hagley School of Fashion, Christchurch
Open Merit Awards
Ethan Blair Allchurch-Rush, ARA Institute of Canterbury (Avant Garde)
Madison Freeman, Massey University, Wellington (Streetwear)
Natasha Senior, Burnside High School, Christchurch (Collections)
Eclipse Collaboration, Wuhan Polytechnic, China (Collections)
Viv Tamblyn, Gore (Natural Fibres)
Molly Pickavance, Hagley School of Fashion, Christchurch (Nightlife)
Vicki Taylor-Blair, Dunedin (Nightlife)
Tracey Marshall, Timaru (Recycled)
Katie Mangai, Dunedin (Recycled)
Special Awards
The Fabric Store – Best Use of Fabric Award: Emma Cook
The Merino Story – Best Use of Wool Award: Ethan Blair Allchurch-Rush
Girl Next Door Fashion – Garment with the Most Commercial Potential Award: Courtney Cansdale
Gore District Council – Auaha Award: Visesio Louis Thomsen
Heather Paterson QSM Memorial Trophy – Best Southland Designer Award: Viv Tamblyn, Gore (Streetwear)
Southern Institute of Technology Young Designer Award: Lucy Hill
Mataura Licensing Trust – Award of Excellence: Donna Dinsdale, Te Puke (Menswear)
Entries for the 2020 MLT Hokonui Fashion Design Awards will open in January 2020.
Recycled Award winner – Debbie Smith from Gore.
Best Southland Designer – Viv Tamblyn from Gore.
Auaha Award winner – Visesio Louis Thomsen from South Auckland.
Open Collections winner – My City Collaboration from Wuhan Polytechnic, China.
Nightlife winner (School section) – Amelia Parker from St Matthews Collegiate, Masterton.
Images by Jackie Gay of Still Vision Photography.