Education New Zealand (ENZ) and Fashion Design Council of India hosted the ‘Runway to New Zealand’, an interesting fashion fiesta, in the capital, on 13th May. The event was a culmination of a month-long journey which saw an amalgamation of creative impetus and ingenuity. It celebrated independent thinking and encouraged team work as two participants from New Zealand and India came together to curate ensembles.
It showcased the ‘Think New’ collection by 12 students from New Zealand (Massey University and AUT University) and Indian institutions (National Institute of Fashion Technology and the Pearl Academy) using indigenous sustainable fabrics to craft new-age garments based on the theme ‘’Future World Connection”. The competition Runway To New Zealand was judged by an esteemed jury which included prominent names from the style galaxy: Amit Aggarwal, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Bal and Varun Bahl.
Two winning pairs were selected- Yoshino Maruyama from Massey University and Megha Sharma from Pearl Academy; the second pair – Claire Nicholson from AUT University and Aishwarya Jain from Pearl Academy, won a two-week internship at the participating New Zealand fashion school where they will get an opportunity to experience New Zealand’s eclectic teaching processes. Have a look of their designs:
The fashion show featured engaging concepts by the six student pairs, covering themes such as creative uniform, ambitious girls in a dystopian global environment, boundary less world, among others. The student designers were judged on the basis of technical, theme interpretation, ramp impact, market relevance and functionality.
Speaking on the occassion New Zealand High Commissioner Grahame Morton said, “The event was a tremendous success and I congratulate the winners and all the young kiwi and Indian student designers who participated. We saw some great ideas and the winners will have a very immediate opportunity to continue their work together in New Zealand. We are grateful to NIFT and Pearl Academy and the Fashion Design Council of India for working with Education New Zealand on this wonderful event.”
