The 11th iD International Emerging Designer winner announced

Emerging Kiwi fashion designer Steve Hall has taken out the top prize at the 11th annual iD International Emerging Designer Awards held at the Town Hall in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The Massey University graduate won the $6,000 MiNDFOOD Style first prize by unanimous decision from the panel of five esteemed judges, including Doris Raymond (vintage fashion aficianado and star of L.A. Frockstars), Doris de Pont (NZ Fashion Museum founder), Tanya Carlson (Carlson designer), Carolyn Enting (associate editor of MiNDFOOD), and Margi Robertson (Nom*d designer).

The only Kiwi finalist to take out a prize, his collection, entitled 'Abandon Man' drew heavily on Japanese culture and costume of the samurai and ninja. It reveals a strong masculine and military-inspired look, that is counterbalanced by the soft touch of cut, proportion and shape. The judges agreed that the collection displayed a completely fresh interpretation of a 'non-gendered' silhouette.

"There was absolutely nothing traditional about it. It wasn't over the top; in a quietly confident way it was a new silhouette for a guy, which is refreshing," said judge Margi Robertson. "It was very beautifully constructed, and it could be worn by men or women. Very androgynous."

The judges were impressed by the calibre of the Awards finalists, with many of them displaying innovative new construction technologies, unique hand-made fabrics, and expert tailoring. "The judging process was overwhelming, simply because it was an embarrassment of riches,” says Doris Raymond.

The remainder of the prizes were scooped by a strong contingent of young designers from Australia.

Hosted by Megan Martin, the 1350 strong audience enjoyed 28 international collections from emerging designers from New Zealand, Australia, Europe, China, and India.

This year’s winners are:

MiNDFOOD Style 1st Place ($6000): Steve Hall, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
Brooker Travel 2nd Place ($4000): Vanessa Emirian, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Gallery De Novo 3rd Place ($2000): Emma van de Merwe, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
Dunedin’s Golden Centre Mall Most Commercial Collection Prize ($1000): Tara Gurisik, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
New Zealand Light Leathers Prize ($1000 cash + $1000 NZLL voucher): Erica DeLuchi, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
The Fabric Store Award for Excellence in Design ($1000 cash + $2000 voucher): Monique Duggan, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Fashion designer, iD Committee Member, and moderator Tanya Carlson says this year’s finalists are “all winners”, with exceptional emerging designer collections that are among the best she has seen in the 11 years of the Awards.

“They are bold, playful and show a fresh, new approach to traditional crafts alongside the latest technology and textiles. We had a fantastic time on judging day and were in total agreement of our winners.”

Backstage, Dr Margo Barton, Academic Leader (Fashion) at the Otago Polytechnic School of Design and a team of students from the Otago Polytechnic were in charge of managing the backstage operations, while Dunedin-based salon Klone Hair took charge of the runway hair creations. Beauty looks for the models – which this year included 10 international models from the University of Shanghai Engineering Science – were created by a Revlon sponsored makeup team, led by Aliana McDaniel.
For more information and a full calendar of events visit www.idfashion.co.nz

ENDS

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