Dunedin students to show at Shanghai Fashion Week

Designer – Olivia Bloxham (2012 Fashion student). Photo by Emily Hlavac Green.

Media release – Otago Polytechnic

For immediate release, Thursday 17th October

Dunedin students to show at Shanghai Fashion Week

Will also work on a collaborative fashion photography project with Shanghai fashion and photography students

Eight Fashion Design students from Otago Polytechnic have been selected to show at the prestigious Shanghai Fashion Week in China which runs from October 16-25. The annual event attracts top designers, media and buyers from all over the world. A Communication design student is also attending to take part in a fashion photography collaboration.

The eight Fashion students and one Communications student are Georgia Ferguson, Alice McKay, Alisha Simpson, Tobi Scott, Sonya Heney, Jessica Gleeson, Hannah Heslop, Lauren Arthur and Anna van Gorp. The School of Design was invited to select students to participate in Shanghai Fashion Week by the International Fashion Academy (IFA) Paris, based in Shanghai. The only stipulation was that each fashion design contribution had to be inspired by the theme, ‘DRAMA’.

“Each of the fashion students has interpreted the theme of DRAMA slightly differently, which means there’s a sense of collective diversity among our contributions,” explains Otago Polytechnic’s Academic Leader – Fashion, Dr Margo Barton. “Some are very wearable, while others tend towards the extreme!”

“So long as the direction shows the designers’ individual design style, all outcomes are valued here at Otago Polytechnic. We look forward to seeing the directions our Chinese collaborators will come up with and are sure there will be even more alternatives presented,” Dr Barton adds.

Designer - Soohee Moon (2012 Fashion student). Photo by Emily Hlavac Green.
Both students showed at Shanghai Fashion Week in 2012.

This is the second year the cultural collaboration has taken place. Whereas last year all participating students were Fashion Design students, Dr Barton says that including a Communications student this year is a way of growing the opportunities for a shared curriculum even further.

“We know this will be an incredibly inspiring experience for all students. We have a great partnership with IFA Paris in Shanghai, which opens doors for our respective students to explore different cultural outlooks,” says Dr Barton. “We truly all learn from one another.”

-ENDS-

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