Receiving an invitation for six of her students to participate in a fashion shoot in Shanghai was exciting enough for Otago Polytechnic's fashion academic leader Margot Barton.
But she says she was "blown away" by what happened next.
The students were also invited to show three garments each at Shanghai Fashion Week on October 22.
While not yet carrying the same international prestige as the New York or Milan fashion weeks, the Shanghai event was growing rapidly and attracted top designers, media and buyers from around the world, she said yesterday.
"This is the first time any of our students have been invited there. To my knowledge it is the first time any New Zealand garments will have been seen there."
Third-year bachelor of fashion design students were invited to apply for the trip. Each had to commit to paying part of their air fare and the remainder of the expenses were being met by the polytechnic and their Chinese hosts from the International Fashion Academy Paris, a department of Shanghai University of Engineering Science. Otago Polytechnic has had a formal relationship with the university for about six years.
A selection panel chose Hortense Rothery, Carolyn Taylor, Olivia Bloxham, Rakel Blomsberg, Sam Ralph and Soohee Moon. Three staff members including Ms Barton will accompany them.
The students, who leave for China on Monday, were working long hours to finish their garments, Ms Barton said.
"They are tired students. They have had to finish their final collections two weeks ahead of the others. But they are so on track. I'm very impressed with their efforts."
Ms Barton said she believed the garments, all interpreting the theme "green", would be well received in China.
"Each of the students has interpreted the theme slightly differently, which means there is a sense of collective diversity and individuality among our contributions."
During the nine-day trip the Dunedin contingent will visit several design studios and the students' garments will be modelled in Shanghai and photographed by Otago Polytechnic photography lecturer Emily Hlavac-Green.
Next month, six fashion academy students will come to Dunedin for a photo shoot and will show their garments at Otago Polytechnic's end-of-year fashion show.
The images from the sister cities will be compiled into a book and the project will form the basis of an academic paper.
