New designers to dazzle iD Fashion Week runway shows

Fourteen New Zealand labels have been selected to show their winter collections at iDFW XV’s runway shows held at Dunedin’s historic Railway Station on Friday April 4 and Saturday April 5, alongside two guest designers yet to be revealed, a selection of local fashion graduates and the winners from the iD International Emerging Designer Awards.  

Longstanding iD favourites – NOM*d, Mild-Red, Carlson, Company of Strangers, Charmaine Reveley, DADA Vintage and Tamsin Cooper – will return to the iD runway –introducing a celebratory aspect to their shows to mark the 15 year anniversary. Auckland-based designer Vaughan Geeson is back for iDFW XV, while popular labels DEVa’L and Storm will also show.

Newcomers to iD include former Otago Polytechnic graduate Fiona Clements of eco fashion label Senorita AweSUMO, popular Dunedin brand Clothes I’ve Made, Wellington label, Wilson Trollope, and emerging clothing label highnoontea.

Tickets go on sale for the anniversary runway shows and the 10th anniversary of the iD International Emerging Designer Awards, to be held next year at the newly reopened Dunedin Town Hall on Thursday 3 April. 

“Next year’s anniversary promises to be a stand-out show, combining Dunedin’s most beloved designers with fresh, new talent,” says iD Dunedin Fashion Week Committee Chair Susie Staley.

This year’s selector, Fashion Quarterly and Canvas magazine fashion editor Dan Ahwa says with several new names up for selection, the process was exciting and reflected the importance of the event in providing a platform for emerging talent.

“Celebrating its 15th birthday next year requires a celebratory show that will inspire and highlight a sense of occasion, so we've kept this in mind when selecting.

“Judging from the collections highlighted, it’s encouraging to see that although Dunedin's dark poetics are still making their presence felt, there's a new-found spirit in the collections as designers explore brighter colours and bold prints, along with clean tailoring – all elements that are perhaps not readily connected with 'Dunedin style'.”

Also unveiled is the new anniversary identity image created for iD Dunedin Fashion Week by BrandAid’s Luke Johnston and photographer Emily Hlavac Green. The model featured in the image is Lily Van Buskirk of Ali Mcd Aart Agency, wearing Charmaine Reveley, with makeup and hair by Katy Parsons.

As ever, the guests for the iD Dunedin Fashion Shows remain a closely guarded secret but promise to build on the success seen with previous guests including last year’s UK celebrity milliner Stephen Jones, British royalty Zandra Rhodes, Australia’s Akira Isogawa and French label Lutz Huelle. 

iD Dunedin Fashion Week