A new fashion label involving the talents

A new fashion label involving the talents of Whitireia Community Polytechnic arts students, the labours of Porirua businesses and celebrity models Irene van Dyk and Frankie Stevens had its unveiling last week.

For more than a year, Sharon Woodhouse, sales and account manager for local business Classic Embroidery, wanted to see a contemporary fashion label established in the city. She envisioned a "community-based project", with percentages of the income going to designers, scholarships for future arts students and a sports fund that was close to her own heart.

Collaborating with her mentor Cathy Roa, Whitireia arts tutor Deb Donnelly and her Bachelor of Applied Arts students, has seen the concept materialise.

"It's so exciting, just awesome to see the creations come out," Ms Woodhouse said. "And it's all being done here, by local students and local businesses. I really wanted this kept in the community. We're going to market it from Porirua, I think this could be huge for this area."

Though starting up the venture has had its share of hard work and headaches, she said it was all worth it to see prototype designs modelled by van Dyk for a photo shoot at Whitireia last week.

Companies like Shoe Connection, Digitex, Porirua hairdresser Ally Joiner and photographers are involved, and getting some big names to publicly wear the range was vital.

"After [Irene and Frankie] came on board, they came to Whitireia and the students found out their likes and dislikes and want they wanted in clothes that they would wear. We had to keep away from sports, as someone like Irene has contracts with big companies to wear their gear, so we're mostly talking about casual clothing, evening wear, that sort of thing."

Rebecca Jones is the designer of van Dyk's range, and the netball star is over the moon with the results.

Ms Donnelly says the students were able to bring their own flair and inspiration to the table, but had "the wants of the clients" in their minds at all times.

Eight students were involved and did the work as part of the textiles section of their studies.

More types of clothing and more celebrity models are being lined up before the fashion label is officially named and launched next year.

Anyone interested in the clothing range can visit the Whitireia Visual Arts exhibition, which had a gala opening at Pataka on Friday night and runs till January 8.