New Zealand Fashion Festival

From 21st to the 27th March the fashion industry are coming together in Auckland, New Zealand for the New Zealand Fashion Festival. Following its successful launch in early 2010, the event is back and hotter than ever. Headlining at the Festival will be four nights of group fashion collections shown on the catwalk. The collections will be a handpicked selection of both high end and high street labels. The great news is that its open to the general public with shows taking place at Shed 6, Wellesley Street, Auckland. Tickets are available from iTicket. The event will close with the ever popular Designer Garage Sale on the weekend which is a great opportunity to grab some great bargains from designers’ end of season range.

Event Guide

The week long festival is a comprehensive consumer event that celebrates the start of the new Winter fashion season and promotes all aspects of the fashion industry in New Zealand. TRESemmé are the official hair product and hair stylists of the festival and will be bringing some hot new hair looks to the catwalks and collection previews.

• Monday 21st March – TRESemmé presents Collections One in association with Fashion Quarterly featuring Cybele, Zambesi, Kourbela, Taylor Boutique, Ruby, Gregory, Moochi, Storm and Helen Cherry
• Wednesday 23rd March – The NZ Herald presents Collections Two in association with Viva featuring Trelise Cooper, Yvonne Bennetti, Juliette Hogan, tkstore, Andrea More, Max, Vanilla Ink
• Thursday 24th March – Auckland Tourism Events & Economic Development presents Collections Three in association with Cleo featuring Celine Rita, Hailwood, Kimberleys, Claire Baker, Michelle Yvette, Sable & Minx, Doosh, Brady

Collections to be shown at Shed 6, New Zealand Fashion Festival

Fashion Friday

On the 25th March the BIG Little City’s Fashion Friday descends on Auckland. BIG Little City is the official guide to what’s going on in Auckland city. From the fringes of Ponsonby to Parnell the guide brings together everything you need to know about the best events, dining, nightlife, hotels and attractions in the central business district.  This Friday will be fabulous with Instore Events to celebrate NZ Fashion Festival, with the opportunity to be styled by Francis Hooper at the WORLD deluxe store 12pm-3pm, or by Turet Knuefermann at the tkstore 10am-5pm. As well as all this great styling how about combining fashion with food at the High St Long Lunch, there will be a long outdoors dining table setting 400 – make sure you get tickets for this quick. Whilst at Shed 6 on Friday 25th March, BIG Little City presents “Collections 4″ in association with Remix Magazine at the NZ Fashion Festival. Featuring great NZ labels such as Zambesi Man, Workshop (a LadyM favourite for denim), Huffer, Ricochet and many more. Shed 6, 90 Wellesley Street 7:30pm show. Make sure you check out the BIG Little City guide for more details.

M.A.C Beauty Seminar

On Tuesday 22nd March 730pm to 930pm there is the opportunity to learn from the M.A.C Artists at NZ Fashion Festival’s inaugural beauty seminar. The artists will introduce the key make up trends from the international runways and give out tips and tricks to mastering the art of makeup application. tickets are $75.00 NZDollars and available at iTicket with the experience including a gift from M.A.C for all attending ticket holders. It will be a great way of completing your look when you’ve just found the best new outfit from the runway.

M.A.C Beauty Seminar at New Zealand Fashion Festival

Winter Trends for New Zealand

This winter it’s all about sophisticated elegance, its about feeling fabulous and celebrating femininity, here are the key trends for the season.

• 50′s Glamour
• Maxi Dresses & Faux Fur
• Velvet
• Chunky Knits
• Black Lace

If you are lucky enough to be attending New Zealand Fashion Festival, please let us know your thoughts on it, your highlights and your favourite designers by leaving a comment.

Photo credits New Zealand Fashion Festival

New Zealand Fashion Week – 10 years strong

From its early youthful beginnings, New Zealand Fashion Week has come a long way and now is rated highly amongst the Pacific fashion shows. The week long catwalk shows stand their ground alongside Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore fashion weeks. It is a great platform for local and national designers to showcase their work.

This year saw an eclectic mix for the A/W11 collections and an interesting insight for a fashion writer who is already working this Autumn/Winter and profiling S/S11. Sophisticated lines and structured tailoring are maintained in A/W 11, from this season but the Australasian designers have their own unique edge and cuts in their collections.

Carr Heel, Frith Heel, Alanna Heel, by Kathryn Wilson

Shoe Designer Kathryn Wilson staged one of the most applauded shows of the New Zealand Fashion Week. The designer had her debut catwalk show this year, she has loyal friends and customers who buy up to eight pairs from her collection each season. Her amazing shoes are seen as investment pieces with prices ranging from £110 to £250. Kathryn’s brand has been on the rise for seven years, rapidly growing from a small, fledging label into a significant player in the new tidal wave of New Zealand’s fast-paced and youthful fashion scene.

New Zealand Fashion Weekend

As with London Fashion Week, there is also a weekend event at NZFW whereby the general public and budding fashionistas can attend catwalk shows, shop at the Herald Designer Garage Sale and learn top tips from makeup artists and stylists. New Zealand Fashion Weekend ran from 25th to 26th September at the Viaduct Harbour in Auckland. The event included the PWC New Generation show which featured up and coming designers as well as models from New Talent (NZ version of Britain’s Next Top Model). Phoenix House of Makeup had lessons and free makeovers in the Moët champagne bar, whilst there were seminars on cosmetics, skin care and styling classes from Signature Style. The IBM Designer Selection Show was the catwalk to be front row at. The LadyM Presents team sat on the front row and eagerly awaited the three parades of over 50 designers with in season S/S outfits and sneak previews at A/W 11 pieces.

New Zealand Fashion Week, Auckland 2010

IBM Designer Selection Show

The catwalk show was lively and colourful. Mixing summer looks with previews of next autumn. Designers included Cybèle, Blak, Twenty-Seven Names and Jimmy D and Zambesi. The summer looks featured a lot of girly detailing, florals and light materials. Silks, chiffon and mesh were heavily present in the collections.

IBM Designer Selection Show, NZFW 2010

The girls in Cybèle walked in some fabulous black loungewear, simple cuts and sophisticated silk dresses. Whilst Twenty-Seven Names brought us ‘country chic’, playful short playsuits in floral and outfits set off with heavy brogues. Never Black set the tone through elegant evening wear, with metallics and mesh and some fabulous cut out shoes from the Kathryn Wilson collections.

Zambesi & Twenty-Seven Names, NZFW 2010

Annah Stretton, the designer who founded her fashion empire in a Waikato dairy farm in the early 1990′s, showcased girly frills and old-fashioned lace. Her collection was described by online magazine Stuff.co.nz as “her strongest collection yet”. Whilst Michelle Yvette, known for her bright colours and elegant dresses gave us a flash of colour with canary yellow and peach silks, strong looks with feminine style. New Zealand fashion favourite and designer for many celebrities, Trelise Cooper, hit the runway in a theme of red, white and blue, with playful and light outfits mixed with statement shoulders and structured lines. Her collection was a big hit this year, as always and her quirkiness and originality showed through.

IBM Designer Selection Show, featuring Trelise Cooper

The show was a mixture of concepts, sometimes confusing with so many new names popping up on the screen behind the models as they walked on to the runway. There was no clear definition between S/S and A/W but styles that were maintained throughout were simple, yet sophisticated silk dresses and strong prints. The girly girl look for day time and elegant evening wear for after dark is still a stronghold in fashion.

Front Row at Sera Lilly, NZFW 2010

NZ Fashion & Blogging

There was much talk this year at the show about the rise of the following of fashion week on the internet, with fashionistas and editors tweeting away the hashtag #NZFW and much coverage of the shows by fashion bloggers such as Isaaclikes.com and Emma Gleason of Rag Pony. Anjali Stewart of local label Twenty-Seven Names commented that she has “no doubt that social media has led to an increase in her brand profile both in New Zealand and overseas”. (Canvas Magazine, Weekend Herald, 28th Sept 2010).