What WILL they show at New Zealand Fashion Week

What WILL they show at New Zealand Fashion Week…?

Will it be the Choir Dress made with an antique Choir boy tunic from England? Or the Black Out Dress made from black-out curtains from the old Wakatipu High School in Queenstown? Or maybe the Wedding Dress, a slip style silk evening dress made from an original 1930s wedding gown?

What will Ella Van Beynen show at New Zealand Fashion Week?

Perhaps one of the above outfits, designed and created for the mid year FORM exhibition at Ara, where Ella is in her final year of the Bachelor of Fashion Technology and Design.

Ella’s FORM collection, The Remarkables – Let’s Not Get Too Carried Away, was both highly creative and very technical. Ella used 100% natural fabrics, such as wool, linen, cotton and silk, and garments saved from the past, in unexpected new ways. She even hand dyed materials with natural dyes – “blackberries from Port Levy” and “dahlias from Mum’s garden and rust”. This collection was a labour of love, history and design.

Remarkables told stories old and new through materials, techniques and garments. So what story will Ella tell at New Zealand Fashion Week (27 August to 2 September) where she will join graduates from other fashion institutes for a special runway show?

Ara graduates William Roper (2017), Caitlin Crisp (2016) and Annie Davies also show their work at the event.

William is another sustainability-minded designer whose work for NZFW will aim to be versatile and interesting. His winning end of year collection for Pitch at Ara, All Under Heaven, was inspired by a both particle physics and the I Ching with fiery colours spoke to the moment of the Big Bang.

Caitlin was also the judges’ choice at Pitch the year before William with a Hollywood-inspired collection taking a cue from the 1950s. Since then she has had several years out in the industry honing her technical skills.

Annie is showing under the label Otis Butler. Her 405 collection, interestingly, draws inspiration from military protective gear, with religious undertones, creating an androgynous collection that explores silhouette and proportion.

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