Emerging Leaders

Judges can’t be accused of national bias, what with none of the finalists New Zealanders, at the iD International Emerging Designer Awards held in Dunedin on Thursday 29th March. Instead, it was a celebration of talents from far and wide…

iD International Emerging Designer Awards
Lion Foundation Arena, Edgar Centre, Dunedin

Judges can’t be accused of national bias, what with none of the finalists New Zealanders, at the iD International Emerging Designer Awards (www.idfashion.co.nz) held in Dunedin on Thursday 29th March. Instead, it was a celebration of talents from far and wide, with winners mostly from Australia, as well as Israel, and Austria.

But what they lacked in preferential-patriotism, they made up for in local pride. In spades. I was struck by how much the city of Dunedin gets behind iD. Taxi drivers all knew about it. Every shop I walked into, without exception, said to me, "Oh you must be here for iD."

I was initially disappointed the awards weren’t in the historic Railway Station, where Friday and Saturday night’s shows are held, but in a 90s sports centre near the waterfront called the Edgar Centre. Once inside though, the black curtains and long catwalk could have been anywhere.

The production values were extremely high – there was just one error I noticed, with a finalist’s collection photo appearing duplicated instead of another finalist’s entry – and easily as, if not more, professionally-run than the graduate fashion shows I have attended and many fashion week shows too. Music changed for each capsule collection and was at the right volume for impact but not deafening us.

See our backstage photos on Thread here.

I liked that the models were ALL locals. They considered bringing models in, which could have raised the standard and experience in some cases, but I do think using locals is part of the charm of iD. Note to dressers backstage; don’t put the girls with bruises on their legs in the shorts.

The audience was full of well-dressed women in their forties and fifties with that quirky edge that Dunedinites do so well. They were all so respectful – unlike at Auckland shows where everyone talks – right throughout the 2 1/2 hour show.

Judge, expat-New Zealander and award-winning British journalist Hilary Alexander said she found the creativity and fabric exploration equal to anything she’s seen and she’s judged competitions all around the world. “Overall, the award winners scored highly in all areas we were looking at: creativity, innovation, wearability, fabrication and catwalk appeal.”

1300 attendees watched 28 collections with four or five garments in each, hailing from eleven countries. They were selected from 120 entries, so about a quarter get in, but I felt it could have been made tighter with about 20 finalists rather than 28.

This year’s winners are:

Peroni 1st Place Prize ($5000): Carolina Barua, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia. Her collection ‘S’swell’featured a range of stunning garments including an apron in golden silk dupion, a cotton sateen skirt and lenticular printed pieces.

Caffe L’affare 2nd Place ($3000 cash): Patricia Kapeleris, University of Technology Sydney, Australia (below)

Strawberry Sound 3rd Place ($1000 cash): Natalia Grzybowski, University of Technology Sydney, Australia (below)

Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall Prize ($1,000) for the most commercial collection: Tanja Bradaric and Taro Ohmae, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria (below)

Charles Parsons Prize ($250 cash and a $250 Charles Parsons voucher): Renana Krebs, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel (below)

Mittelmoda Prize: Chris Ran Lin, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia below right with his model, left.

The judging panel included Hilary Alexander, French-based designer Lutz Huelle and business partner David Ballu (below),

…along with leading Australian fashion authority Nicholas Huxley, and Dunedin designers Tanya Carlson and Margi Robertson of Nom*D.

Below, NZ’s Next Top Model twins Nellie and Elza walked, and NZNTM host Sara Tetro was in the front row.

There was a sports game scoreboard on the wall at the Edgar Centre that read, Home and Visitors.

I think it is easily a Home victory. Well played, Dunedin.

Megan Robinson 30 March 2012
Photography by Kevin Robinson