Westpac Adds Style Power To Fashion Competition

Friday 22 July, 2011

With one week to go before entries close, Westpac has announced an authoritative triumvirate of youth culture experts as the judging panel for this year’s Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition.

Still aged in their thirties, all three judges are influential style-makers in their own right. They are, photographer and stylist Karen Inderbitzen-Waller, musician and designer Boh Runga, and Zambesi menswear designer Dayne Johnston (biographies and portraits for each judge are attached).

The Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition is New Zealand’s launch pad for emerging and high potential fashion designers. The competition is open to students who are currently completing a New Zealand fashion based tertiary course, or have graduated from a New Zealand fashion based tertiary course within the last four years.

“Everyone needs to start somewhere,” says Karen Inderbitzen-Waller. “Building a brand takes a long time. This is a leg up for the right person, who then has to seize the opportunity and make the most of it. I aim to help see that it goes to the right recipient.”

Aspiring designers have until 5pm, next Thursday 28 July 2011, to enter a portfolio of three looks, along with a brief biography, plus a paragraph on how they would put the practical prize package to work for their future. Entries can be uploaded via the Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/westpacyoungdesigner

With entries flooding in from Auckland to Dunedin, and everywhere in-between, the fashionable judging panel will have their work cut out for them.

The judging panel will select the ten most outstanding entries as semi-finalists. These top ten mini-collections will then be uploaded to the Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition official Facebook page, where the public will be encouraged to vote online for their favourite designer.

The three designers who amass the most public votes by Sunday 14 August will travel to Auckland to present their mini-collections in front of the judges during New Zealand Fashion Week. After a dramatic live runway walk-off at the Westpac RED COLLECTION show on Thursday 1 September, the winner will be announced.

The winner of the Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition will receive a Westpac bank account with NZ$5000, plus dedicated business banking advice. This year’s prize also includes a year-long professional mentorship from an established and successful New Zealand fashion designer.

The annual Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition was launched in 2010 to mark the fifth Westpac RED COLLECTION show at New Zealand Fashion Week. The response from young designers was overwhelming, with over 70 original mini-collections entered from all around the country.

Two rounds of judging and more than 12,000 public votes later, 20-year-old Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology student, Jess Britten, walked away with the inaugural award.

“People need a positive outlet for their creativity,” says Boh Runga. “New Zealand is a nation full of ideas that need to be seen. Having a competition like this, that enables a budding designer to get their clothing out to people, is a wonderful way to nurture that creativity and support New Zealand business as a whole.”

Key Competition Dates:
5pm, Thursday 28 July, 2011– Entries deadline
Wednesday 3 August, 2011 – Top 10 semi-finalists announced on Facebook, public voting commences
Tuesday 16 August, 2011 – Top 3 finalists announced
Thursday 1 September, 2011 – Westpac RED COLLECTION show, winner announced live!

Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition 2011 Prize Package:
NZ$5000 deposited into a Westpac business account in the name of the winner to go towards furthering their fashion career
Mentoring from a Westpac RED COLLECTION designer for 1 year
Business banking advice from Westpac for 1 year

Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition official Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/westpacyoungdesigner

ENDS

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