Whitecliffe Fashion Department showed its Year 2 and 3 student collections and the Graduation Show for the Year 4 students in Shed 6 on Saturday night with designers whose talents stood out a mile, and others who were easily forgivable…
It was a great start to the Whitecliffe fashion show to see a hint of sunshine, after a long overcast day. The venue was bubbling full of media, supporting family and friends, and of course the anxious designers about to show.
After a slight hiccup with the microphone, without too much delay the show begun.
With 26 students showing it is difficult to cover each one in detail, even though they all deserve it. Looking back there were designers whose talents stood out a mile; others were easily forgivable.
From the second year students the standout designers were Lana Thain and Katy Kelly. Katy’s collection was inspired by the ideal contemporary woman. The cuts were clean and simple with a matching colour palette, making this a standout at the show.
Lana Thain – Second Skin.
Lana Thain. Photography by Chris Piper.
Katy Kelly’s Ciao Bella collection embodied sophistication and effortless elegance.
From the third year collections Madeleine Harman’s collection was beautifully put together, with modern cuts with plenty of texture, colour and style that would work commercially. The collection was well balanced between the tweed and the lighter silk pieces, making each piece a must-have.
Other favourites were Betelgeuse by Yun Do, First in Command by Tess Gleeson, and More Money, More Problems by Jessica Grubisa.
Betelgeuse by Yun Do was a fun collection that considered its inspiration and every detail required to put it together…I love Betelgeuse and I think Yun really did it justice.
Betelgeuse. (Photography by Chris Piper).
First in Command by Tess Gleeson was again a very well put together collection, and the slightly draped cuts softened the masculine lines to create well balanced pieces.
Jessica Grubisa extracted just the right amount of detail from the Hip Hop genre to emphasize it in each of the pieces. The collection had a great balance of texture from the oversized fur bags (let’s hope it was faux fur) to the large knitted throws.
More Money, More Problems by Jessica Grubisa. (Photography on right by Chris Piper.)
The year 4 student collections that stood out were Julia Campbell, Nour Hassan, Sun Hoon Kim and Akana Nakamura. Each was different in their own way, with Julia and Nour exploring the thematic representation in their garments and Sun and Akane focusing on the cut and relationship between the body and the garment.
Julia Campbell showed oversized knits with great textural quality. This seemed to be a trend, as this style was also seen in Jessica Grubisa’s work. (Photography by Chris Piper.)
Nour Hassan’s collection was "a personal response to the tragic existence of Palestine."
Sun Hoon Kim showed very sophisticated structured pieces. Sun’s inspiration was the frame. Some of the garments emphasised the restrictions of a framework by being closed within it, and others were open conceptually breaking from within the garment.
Akane Nakamura.
Other designers worth noting:
Ben Paul. (Photography by Chris Piper.)
Ally Woo with her African-inspired collection. Loved the headpieces especially the one featured in this photo.
Niketta Shine.
Photos and story by Nita Prekazi 20 November 2010.
Photography also provided by: Chris Piper, crisp@ihug.co.nz 0274985404
Leave a Reply