Awarding style at iD

The night after the win by Rakel Blom at iD Awards, Thread headed to the Golden Centre to have a quick chat with the Icelandic-born designer from Otago Polytechnic…

The night after the win by Rakel Blom at iD International Emerging Designer Awards 2013, Thread headed to the Golden Centre mall’s ‘meet the designers’ event, to have a quick chat with the Icelandic-born designer from Otago Polytechnic.

Rakel Blom left her homeland of Iceland after finishing high school in 2006 and travelled for a couple of years, and then came to New Zealand (she had found New Zealanders to be very friendly) and did a foundation course in Fine Arts at Whitecliffe. Next she proceeded to Dunedin where she completed a Bachelor of Design (Fashion). She left Dunedin in Dec 2012 and is now living in London.

Rakel loves to mix technologies to create her own textiles and fabric, fusing traditional tapestry/digital printing/encrusted quilting and lacy perspex in her winning collection.

I commented that the shaggy bright wool on her garments was placed where you would normally expect fur trim, and she explained that it was used to lend volume to the garments.

The $5K win has given her more flexibility, she says, to expand her career within the industry. She hopes to work for a designer and learn to run a design business, before going on to launch her own label.

‘Til hamingju’ Rakel! That’s ‘congratulations’ in Icelandic.