Dunedin fashion filling the Void

Having caught the eye of a savvy Dunedin fashion retailer, three School of Fashion students take up a first-time chance to design and manufacture for real. Jude Hathaway reports.

A new label has appeared in ever-trendy Dunedin fashion boutique Void Clothing. The range is small but significant, sitting alongside the national and international fashion brands the store favours. Critically, it is selling.

The label is called "is is" (an abbreviated form of "it is because it is" explain its young creators). It's not a bad signature, either, given its extraordinary path from drawing board to retail store.

The garments command interest, their eye-catching original design features paired with wearability. But being developed and manufactured just a block away by three young students at the Otago Polytechnic's School of Fashion is what really sets them apart.

The range is made up of the quirky "Hooded Creature" fashion hoodie in three different colours and the "A Shirt Of My Own" dress, which represents an inspirational new take on a traditional man's shirt, in a white fabric or a blue-and-white pinstripe.

Designers Tessa McCone, Lucinda (Lulu) Hills and Brigid (Bidi) Steeper are all aged 20, now in the final year of the degree course in fashion design and share a high-powered energy and enthusiasm that helped drive their second-year project to success.

The annual project involves second-year fashion design students of the three-year bachelor of design (fashion) degree working in teams to create a range of five or six outfits for a Dunedin retailer.Last year Void, Plume, Waughs, Cheapskates and Stir were the stores involved.

Void owner Neil Gaudin has been part of the project for the past five years. He has seen some fine work but nothing to parallel the "is is" garments.

"They were absolute standouts - well-conceived, very well-constructed and displaying good detail," Mr Gaudin says.

"Their styles were also very relevant to Void and fitted in well with our other brands. You know, I'd been waiting for something like this from the students every year - something that suits Void that we can sell in-store."

The fact the consignment would not be available until this month did not put the store's owner off.

"I was very aware when the students agreed last September to go on and manufacture what are summer garments they may arrive too late in the season with the girls having to source fabric, do proper costings and then get the production sorted. But it was important for me to do so and I don't mind if I have to wait for the garments to move."

There might not be much of a wait. There has been good interest in the "is is" garments and some sales already.

For senior lecturer Tracy Kennedy it is an exciting outcome.

"This is the first time the year-two project has gone on to have a range manufactured for sale in a retail outlet. It's a fine example of a collaboration between education and the local fashion industry."