Students pass design test with flying colours
From pukeko to an African goddess, fashion students will be showcasing their colourful designs at this year’s fashion week.
Seventeen New Zealand Fashion Tech students will see their designs go down the catwalk after being selected for the annual Resene Designer Runway.
Every year, students at the fashion institute are randomly assigned a colour and challenged to create an outfit. The best are chosen for New Zealand Fashion Week, held in Auckland each August.
Fashion student Elisabeth Clink earned her spot with a pukeko-inspired design.
The third-year Wellington student, along with her other classmates, picked Resene colours out of a hat and was challenged to design a silk outfit.
Clink drew out a colour called Pu¯ keko – a shade of purple.
‘‘I wasn’t quite sure about it at first because it was pretty startling and I took a lot of time to design anything.’’
During her design process, she said she started researching a few different things – first pukeko, to get an idea of their lives and behaviours.
‘‘They’re reckless, noisy and sexually fluid,’’ she said.
She started started designing her outfit for a character she was developing in her mind.
Clink also took inspiration from designer Yves St Laurent in the 1970s and 1980s and the puffy sleeves at the time.
All the students worked with silk, so Clink researched the material, uncovering information about the French silk workers’ revolts in the 1830s.
Seven Wellington students and 10 Auckland students were chosen. Among the Wellingtonians were Michael Mells, chosen for his spring-inspired jumpsuit, and Jo Shierlaw, with an interpretation of the Roman era.
Clink also received a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia and jets to India this week for a six-week internship learning about how materials are made and dyed.
‘‘I’m quite invested in textiles in general so I think seeing anything being woven by hand will be wonderful,’’ she said.