Chinese fashion students look to Invercargill

The Southern Institute of Technology is set to sign a deal that will see Chinese fashion students complete their degrees in Invercargill.

Staff from Wuhan Polytechnic University met with some of Hokonui Fashion Design Awards at the SIT downtown campus as part of their visit to Invercargill.

The university is considering an exchange programme that would allow its third year fashion students to complete the final year of their degree in New Zealand at SIT.

Staff from the university have spent the past few days seeing what the SIT fashion programme entails.

SIT international department and marketing manager Chami Abeysinghe said through the institute’s relationships in China it was mentioned that Wuhan Polytechnic University would be a great partner for its fashion programme. Staff from SIT were sent over to scope out the opportunities and now staff from Wuhan were visiting, Abeysinghe said

At the end of the visit the two institutes would sign a memorandum of understanding to look at opportunities for collaboration, she said.

SIT chief executive Penny Simmonds said many of the SIT fashion graduates went on to start their own businesses or worked for established companies.

Wuhan Polytechnic University was a very big institute and very prestigious, she said. The students would have completed three years as part of a diploma program at the university, then come to SIT to finish and complete a degree. The university did not have a fashion degree.

SIT was looking to apply for the Prime Minister’s scholarship to be able to send students to the university in China, Simmonds said.

Wuhan Polytechnic University chief of clothing teaching and research section of the school of textile and fashion design Kong Li said she would like to build a connection between the teachers and students.

Li added that she would also wanted to see the Chinese students get the opportunity to enter into the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards.

The staff from the university got the opportunity to meet awards judges Francis Hooper, Sue Prescott and Doris de Pont.

University staff will see the show in Gore on Saturday as part of their visit.

Follow Saturday’s Hokonui Fashion Design Awards live blog on Southland Times from 7.30pm #hfda18

From left, Wuhan Polytechnic delegates Chen Handong, Wang Ling, Jiang Hui, Hokonui Fashion Design Awards judge Francis Hooper and Sue Prescott, delegates Wen Zhenhua, Kong Li, SIT School of Visual Arts, Film and Animation programme manager Kathryn...