After three years of study at The New Zealand Fashion Tech, Jo Shierlaw is committed to translating her love of fashion into a successful career. “I have a huge passion for fashion, an eye for detail and a love for expressing bright and bold colours,” announced the emerging designer. Following the release of her graduate collection, Shierlaw is preparing to launch her brand, which will combine the different ideas she is most passionate about including her culture, love of colour and unique innovation. “My goal for this year would be to get into our graduate. Further on I would love to incorporate my culture into a collection, with beautiful Chinese art styles and colours.”
Shierlaw’s graduate collection was inspired by abstract art, and she created unique textiles which showcased bright and bold forms throughout her designs. “My pride and joy of this collection was defiantly my pom-pom bomber jacket, where I handmade each of the individual pom-poms in different shapes and sizes and stitched them all around the jacket. It was so fluffy and looked like its own fabric,” she revealed. The young designer also found inspiration in her favourite designers including Yayoi Kusama, Matisse and Raf Summons. “I adore Erin Robertson who won season 15 of Project Runway as she was so crafty and fun with her textiles.”
The knowledge this emerging designer has attained throughout her early career at both the New Zealand Fashion Tech and her time as an intern for Yu Mei is what will carry her into the next tiers of this industry. “Always value your tutors, especially with all the notes and skills they give you. They always come in handy later on when you’re working on your own.”
