Young designers earn a place on the catwalk

Monday, 14 March 2005, 9:24 am
Press Release: Vodafone

Young designers earn a place on the catwalk and a plane ticket to Italy

The winners of the inaugural Vodafone id Dunedin Emerging Designer Awards have been announced.

Three young fashion designers from Australia and New Zealand have received prizes, and a fourth young designer has won a special new prize that has just been announced.

First prize goes to Carla Bergs, of QUT in Brisbane, who wins a cash prize of $3000 and gets to show her collection alongside high profile Dunedin designers at the Vodafone id Dunedin Fashion Show on the evening of Saturday 12 March at the Dunedin Railway Station.

Second prize of $1000 goes to Patrick Li, of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Melbourne, and third prizewinner is Otago Polytechnic School of Fashion graduate Marcia Hudson.

All winners receive gift packs from Revlon and Redken.

Tara Viggo, a student at Otago Polytechnic School of Fashion, has been awarded a special prize to attend the Mittelmoda event in Rado, Italy, in September 2005.

Mittelmoda director Stefano Sopelza was pleased to announce the special prize which will see Tara Viggo flown to Italy as a finalist in the prestigious Italian fashion event.

Mr Sopelza is in Dunedin as one of a panel of judges for the inaugural Fashion Awards held as part of the Vodafone id Dunedin Fashion Week 2005.

"Tara really matched my standards, and she has a very strong collection," says Mr Sopelza.

He says she will be included in the Mittelmoda Show as one of 37 finalists selected from over 1000 entries.

The international judging panel for the Fashion Awards was Sara Aspinall of Nom*D, fashion designer Tanya Carlson, Chris Lorimer (Staple Magazine, Wellington), Stefano Sopelza (Mittelmoda, Italy), and Rex Turnbull (LINO Magazine, Sydney.)

For online news, events and information about the Vodafone id Dunedin Fashion Week 2005 go to www.id-dunedinfashion.com

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