Dunedin fashion lovers will get the chance to wear the sort of designs that grace the emerging designer catwalk from today.
Otago Polytechnic academic leader of fashion Dr Margo Barton is launching a three-day event at 23 Princes St that mirrors an event she held in Vienna in June.
Citizen Stylist allows members of the public to try on fashion designs from polytechnic students and graduates, and combine them with pieces from their own wardrobe.
Dr Barton said it would also be a chance for "dressing up and having some fun".
The graduates’ and students’ creations "fit all sorts of sizes shapes and ages, so don’t be put off", she said.
It would allow them to realise they could wear such clothes, and understand the people who had made them.
"The bottom line really is about ethical fashion design and production, and we’re hoping to educate the public about buying locally designed clothes."
It would also educate fashion design students that mixing their collections up, and not having a purist designer’s view could be "really enabling" to consumers.
That was something she said excited students when she first tried the idea out at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna earlier this year.
Once members of the public had chosen their style, their photo would be taken and posted on Citizen Stylist’s website and Instagram account.
Prof Barton said she planned to deliver an academic paper on the event.
Citizen Stylist starts today at 2pm, and is part of The Urban Dream Brokerage project, designed to introduce art, music and literature projects in underused CBD sites.