Air New Zealand Fashion Week Sponsors Launch

Monday 21 June 2004
For Immediate Release

GLAMOUR MEETS BUSINESS AT AIR NEW ZEALAND FASHION WEEK SPONSORS LAUNCH

Business mixed with fashion for pleasure last night as the countdown to Air New Zealand Fashion Week kicked-off with a function welcoming its sponsors.

Fashion Week managing director, Pieter Stewart hosted the launch at the Hilton Auckland, attended by sponsors, designers and media, to celebrate the fourth year of the collections.

A family of seven sponsors were confirmed including continuing sponsors Deutz Marlborough Cuvée , the Hilton Auckland, L’Oréal, fashion retailer MAX and the New Zealand Herald, plus newcomers in 2004, naming rights sponsor Air New Zealand and Hewlett Packard.

Stewart thanked each of the elite sponsors for their support by presenting each of them with a customised gift created by one of New Zealand’s top fashion designers. Gifts included a model plane decorated by Doris Du Pont for Air New Zealand, a newspaper delivery satchel designed by WORLD for the New Zealand Herald, and a Sabatini-decorated magnum for Deutz.

Stewart said organisers were delighted that Air New Zealand had secured the naming rights sponsorship of the event because of the symmetry between the two brands.

“Like Fashion Week, Air New Zealand takes the best of our country to the world. The airline’s support and endorsement adds to our credibility as a vitally important export driver for New Zealand. It also reaffirms to our designers, sponsors and key partners that the event is poised for even bigger things on the world stage.”

Details of this year’s Air New Zealand Fashion Week, including a new venue, were confirmed at the function.

The event will take place over four days from October 18 to 21 at Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour, in the former Alinghi and Team New Zealand buildings. “The new venue creates exciting spaces and has a great ambience because it’s so close to the water”, said Stewart.

Designer catwalk shows will run alongside the biggest ‘Exhibition’ to date of off-catwalk and accessory ranges, plus showrooms for designers and buyers, and more opportunities for hospitality than ever before.

‘Best of Fashion Week Show’ parades, featuring the highlights of the collections, will be open to the public. The ‘Best of’ shows will be repeated over four days at ‘Runway’, a public expo featuring the best of New Zealand design, being held from 23 - 26 October at the same venue.

Stewart said organisers were thrilled that for the first time, Mercedes Australian Fashion Week will run back-to-back with the Kiwi collections. The Australian collections will start in Melbourne on Monday 26 October, giving long-haul visitors the opportunity to see the best of the Southern Hemisphere’s fashion in one journey.

Coverage of all catwalk shows will feature on a dedicated Air New Zealand Fashion Week channel on Sky TV for the four days of the event, and then repeated for the following four days.

Air New Zealand Fashion Week is the highlight of the New Zealand fashion calendar, with the country’s top designers coming together to showcase their latest collections to local and international buyers, media and guests.

Since its first year in 2001 when 43 labels showed and buyers from five countries attended, the event has grown considerably.

Last year’s event involved 50 labels featuring 2,000 garments in 31 catwalk shows for around 200 buyers from 12 countries.

Domestic and international media coverage has grown from $NZ 1.8 million in 2001 to more than $NZ 12 million in 2003.

The full list of gifts presented to sponsors:
• Doris de Pont decorated a model plane for Air New Zealand
• Vamp customized a mirror for L’Oréal
• WORLD designed a newspaper delivery satchel for The New Zealand Herald
• Trelise Cooper used beading and diamantes to adorn a bathrobe for the Hilton
• Sabatini decorated a champagne magnum for Deutz Marlborough Cuvée
• Insidious Fix created a monogrammed knit bag for MAX
• Adrian Hailwood, a graphic artist before he became a fashion designer, created an exclusive print for Hewlett Packard

About Air New Zealand Fashion Week Air New Zealand Fashion Week unites the best of New Zealand fashion and showcases it to the world. In just four years, the event has delivered significant trade opportunities for New Zealand fashion’s inherently indigenous take on urban style.

ENDS

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