Young Aucklanders are keen to compete for a chance to win a valuable foot in the fashion industry door via an Auckland High School design competition held by Botany Town Centre.
East Auckland’s Botany Town Centre is offering a chance to help a budding fashion designer’s dream via their event, the Botany Design Awards. The BDAs has been entered by 130-plus Auckland high school fashion/textiles students. One in 130, the overall winner will receive a $2,000 scholarship to NZ Fashion Tech, brand and label design by Ideology, work experience at Girlfriend Magazine as well as a $1,000 Botany Town Centre gift card, and a Purform tailors form worth up to $800.
The BDAs hope to be a winner for all entries as it will further boost the competing teenagers’ skills and experience by demanding their individual takes on urban style and sophisticated glamour. Botany Town Centre Marketing Manager Desiree Clark says the competition has real value for creative teenagers. “Not only is this a design-based competition, it is a learning and career-launching platform for those who put in their all." There will be great opportunities for the entrants throughout the competition, from monthly challenges to a presentation by industry professionals.
The entrants now have the task of designing, making and tailoring their design to a model of their choice. The displays will culminate in a 20 October awards and fashion evening at the centre that will be reminiscent of a Fashion Week fashion show.
NZ Fashion Tech Managing Director Kevin Smith says of the competition: “It’s a great time to be entering the New Zealand fashion industry, and competitions like the BDAs provide a great platform for up-and-comers to explore their creativity and find their niche. We at NZ Fashion Tech have undertaken independent research relating to the industry, and the figures are very encouraging. We found that 53 to 128 jobs are likely to be created in the local industry in the next six to 12 months, which is great news for textile students at secondary and tertiary institutions."
The BDAs offers two design categories (Urban Wear and Occasion Wear), and each will be judged on different criteria. Each category will have individual year level winners, from Year 11 to Year 13, and there will also be a People’s Choice winner.
Here is the brief the students were given below:
