Australasian fashion identity on show

Images courtesy of NGV or National Gallery of Victoria.

Media Release: for immediate release
Tuesday 14 April 2015

Australasian fashion identity on show at iD Dunedin Fashion Week

With this year’s iD Dunedin Fashion Week shows taking place on ANZAC weekend, and with WWI commemorations in full swing on both sides of the Tasman, it is timely to think about our shared identity with our nearest neighbours.

Fashion designer and curator of the New Zealand Fashion Museum Doris de Pont has hand-picked a special collection of garments from leading New Zealand and Australian fashion designers that is designed to question our common identity. Entitled ‘Together Alone, revisited’, this collection will be shown on the runway on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th April as part of the iD Dunedin Fashion Shows.

Doris says, “While Australians and New Zealanders have many common experiences and there are significant ties between us, we do not usually see ourselves as similar. Because fashion is an important way we express our identity as individuals and as a society it provides a useful lens through which we can view ourselves. 'Together Alone, revisited’ reprises an exhibition of four New Zealand and three Australian designers, first held at the National Gallery of Victoria in 2009. By bringing together the work of these designers we are creating an opportunity for viewers to experience fashion from both sides of “the ditch” and to decide for themselves if there is a distinct New Zealand, Australian or perhaps even an Australasian style.”

The collection is comprised of pieces from New Zealand designers NOM*d (Dunedin), WORLD (Auckland), Zambesi (Auckland), and Doris de Pont herself (Auckland). The Australian contingent is represented by Akira (Sydney), Material By Product (Melbourne), and Romance Was Born (Sydney). This collection will open the iD Fashion Shows on both Friday and Saturday night.

Curator Doris de Pont is an internationally recognised designer with garments held in the collections of the Auckland Museum, Te Papa, and the National Gallery of Victoria. A foundation trustee and curator of the NZ Fashion Museum, Doris is also the author of several fashion books and is an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to Fashion.

Doris will also be presenting a guest lecture on the subject of fashion and identity at 12.30pm onThursday 23rd April at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, as part of the full iD Dunedin Fashion Week schedule.

For further information and ticketing details for iD Dunedin Fashion Week, head towww.idfashion.co.nz

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