Five Finalists Compete For Coveted Title

ART OF CAKE 2015

Five Finalists Compete For Coveted Title

Five of Auckland’s most talented cakers will compete in this year’s Art of Cake exhibition at Shore City mall in the heart of Takapuna. Art of Cake is an annual competition that sees fashion and fondant collide. This year the five finalists will take on the challenge of bringing to life the vision of well-known fashion identities:
Clare Grove, Four Eyes, Kylie Cooke, LeeAnn Yare and the official Shore City charity Cure Kids. Each mood board draws from personal inspiration, design and style to construct unique signature themes, which had cakers from all over Auckland submitting detailed designs with intricate patterns.

‘Oriental Gardens’ by Clare Grove

With a shoe closet we could only dream of, author and illustrator of the ‘My Mummy Loves’ series, Clare Grove, drew on her illustration talent and unwavering love of fashion to create the ‘Oriental Gardens’ mood board. “I found inspiration for my mood board from both the intricacy of oriental style and the couture gowns from Dior and Chanel,” says Clare. Oriental Gardens explores the correlation between modern drapery, delicate fabrics and iconic Japanese culture through use of traditional oriental fans and florals.

‘A Monochromatic Statement’ by Four Eyes

Curators of the fashion blog ‘Four Eyes’, Chin, Danny, Mino and Alex are the ultimate authority on street style in Auckland and abroad. All about making a statement and expressing their individual styles, it came as no surprise that their mood board, ‘A Monochromatic Statement’, was as structured, sophisticated and chic as them in every way. Their mood board showcases their strong attention to detail, appreciation for clean, timeless lines, geometric composition and of course – their love of black and white.

‘The Bold and The Beautiful’ by Kylie Cooke

Renowned stylist and costume designer Kylie Cooke has worked across fashion, film, and TV – having styled for New Zealand X Factor, New Zealand’s Next Top Model and most recently, Dancing With The Stars. Kylie is well known for always placing her best fashion-foot forward, and she has not disappointed with her mood board ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’. Drawing inspiration directly from the runway, her mood board is Chanel-clad and full of experimental, adventurous texture – a trait she admires most about the iconic fashion house. Never one to shy away from bright colours and outrageous patterns, Kylie aimed to challenge finalists to recognize and appreciate the amount of detail in fabrics, and translate that into a truly bold and beautiful cake.

‘Dark Romance’ by LeeAnn Yare

Interior design aficionado LeeAnn Yare is no stranger to the art of creating. She has her own homeware label and is a writer, stylist, TV presenter, pilot and has curated a mood board full of passion and drama entitled
‘Dark Romance’. Taking inspiration from her own personal style, LeeAnn feels that black, when mixed with hints of florals, lace and embellishments creates something dramatic and sophisticated that easily transfers from fashion to interior design, and now, to cakes. This board is gothic-edge meets Victorian-era elegance!

‘Pop Couture’ by Cure Kids

Shore City’s charity of choice is Cure Kids – an organisation whose sole purpose is to raise funds to help find cures for life-threatening illnesses affecting many children throughout New Zealand. Cure Kids ambassadors are ttchildren who have more strength than Superman, have fought more baddies than Batman and are more resilient than Spiderman. Their mood board, aptly named ‘Pop Couture’, is a reflection of the courageous little super-heroes they work with every day, and a few of the things they love – bright colours, having fun, and cartoons!

Back to defend her title from two years running, is Art of Cake winner 2013 & 2014 Sondra Vicelich from Sweet Bites Cakes. Last year Sondra’s creation aptly titled ‘Shine Bright’ was an indulgent ode to the opulent fabrics and luxurious embellishments seen emerging on the catwalks in 2014. Sondra and her team spent more than 100 hours crafting the masterpiece of custom coloured fondant, wafer paper flowers, candy beading, edible glitter and fondant stilettos. This year Sweet Bites Cakes takes on the Oriental Gardens mood board by Clare Grove.

The five finalists cakes will be unveiled at Shore City mall on Thursday 6th August 2015 and will be on display on level one for three weeks. Determined by public voting, shoppers who spend $5 or more at any Shore City store will be given a token to place their vote. The winner will be announced Friday 28th August 2015.

© Scoop Media