Otago Polytechnic School of Design graduates, Russelle Ivan Tino, Sidney North and George Park are three of the five designers chosen from the 2022 class to present three designs from their graduate collections as part of a capsule collection at iD Dunedin Fashion Week.
Miss North said the graduates had "free rein" over their school collections, enabling them to follow a theme of their choosing for the outfits, and it was "very cool" to be able to see their designs on a real professional runway.
Her collection, "Obsession", was based on a gemstone theme which would include ruby, topaz, amethyst, emerald and pearl tones.
She said she wanted to explore society’s obsession with shiny objects and jewels on an anecdotal level.
Mr Tino said he would be presenting three pieces from his collection, "Say Yes to Heaven" — one he described as a bridal collection that would transport the viewer to the experience of a real wedding and play on the idea of heaven and femininity.
"The big finale piece was the bridal gown, and then the bridesmaid dresses surround it.
"There’s a lot of florals, but not florals in terms of print — I’ve done a lot of textile manipulation, making heaps and heaps of fabric roses," Mr Tino said.
Mr Park said his collection, "The Nature of Mercury", played heavily into the concept of both the parallels between the human and animal kingdoms and also modernity and artificial intelligence with camouflage.
"I worked with a lot of material with the ideas of reflection, and repetition, and stripes — stuff that tricks the eye, you’ll see a lot of reflection," Mr Park said.
Despite having previous runway experience, the three graduates were excited to see the designs on the stage next to "big names in the industry", especially Mr Tino, who said he got to tell his parents his own designs would be shown on the iD runway, and he would not just be backstage.
The graduate capsules, including two other polytechnic designers, Francesca Flynn and Finn Duffy, will be featured during the full iD Fashion shows held March 31 and April 1.
