Fashion competition merges talent from New Zealand and Malaysia

• Virtual Re-Start Fashion Competition will showcase quality of New Zealand fashion institutions and encourage Malaysian students to study in New Zealand

The competition, created by Education New Zealand, involves ten teams working virtually with one Malaysian and one New Zealand participant per team. The challenge is to create an integrated collection of four individual 'looks' that will be showcased as a fashion parade at the New Zealand Week Gala event on March 11 at the Saujana Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Among the participants are graduates Emily Scott  from Otago Polytechnic Fashion (NZ) and Christine Kong Peoi Yi from Tunku Abdul Rahman College or TARC (MY). They teamed up to compete and create a fashion line using the Christchurch earthquake recovery as theme.  They started collaborating since December last year. Emily will fly over on 7 March to join Christine and showcase their earthquake-inspired collection.

For this contest, each team has been given $1000 NZD, split evenly between the two countries and distributed to the designer through their tertiary institution. Designers can produce a variety of looks from street-wear to more formal attire, with one item suitable for a cocktail event.

The collections will be assessed by a group of celebrity judges such as New Zealand footwear designer Kathryn Wilson and Malaysian celebrity designer Bill Keith, at the Gala Event and first prize winners will be awarded $10,000 NZD.

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More talents for the promising clothing and textile business – part 2 of our fashion design series