Feature: AUT Rookie Show At Air NZ Fashion Week

AUT Rookie Show Around 30 AUT University fashion graduates presented their collections at the ROOKIE show during ANZFW. Commencing with a “cinderella” performance displaying costume designs, each student then showed three or four outfits. Here are our choices of the top three fashion design grads for 2006…

Sarah An Inspired from the images found in a 1970’s magazine, Sarah An presented her garments to an appreciative audience as part of the AUT Rookie show. Her playful take on the ‘70s included a thick corduroy green dress with a soft pink tunic underneath, matched with a box-cut coat in carrot orange with large buttons and pleats through the back. Tartan also featured amongst the bold colour palette, which was created with a fabric dyer.

Sarah’s swing-back coats were the highlight of the collection and would brighten up any outfit during the winter months. Models wore large round sunglasses reminiscent of the era, flat black patent leather shoes, and white stockings. Hair was pulled forward and swept to one side.

A finalist in both the Young Designer Awards and the Bernina Fashion Awards, Sarah An is definitely a designer to watch.

By Pia Christiansen

Danielle Smith The inspiration behind Danielle Smith’s soft sculptured designs is Margaret Hema’s natural skincare range. Hema’s exclusive products use ingredients extracted from native New Zealand plants which are hand-blended by the founder and her family.

Smith translates Hema’s concept from beauty to fashion by creating her own felt, which was a standout feature of her collection. Textured and soft, it looked smart yet comfy in a boxy 60s style short coat teamed with high waisted drawstring pants.

Colours were as inviting as textures and also derived from nature with lavender, stone grey and bleach white keeping the palatte simple and natural.

By Caroline Faigan

Hannah Morgan Beresford Rookie designer Hannah Morgan Beresford has obviously been spending her spare time reading children’s books. Her collection of cream chunky knitted skirts appliquéd with large felt flowers in bold colours was strongly reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. Held up with braces, these were worn over simple pale blue merino tops with puffed sleeves and gingham peter pan collars. These were clothes that simply bounced their way up the runway, suggesting a playful innocence.

By Jackie O’Fee

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