Collection to be shown in Kuala Lumpur

Fashion designer Emily Scott at work. Photo by Craig Baxter.

Dunedin fashion design graduate Emily Scott is preparing to showcase her work, inspired by Christchurch's revival from the earthquakes, to an international audience in Kuala Lumpur.

Miss Scott (22) was selected to work collaboratively on a collection titled ''Before Birth: Fall 2013'' with Malaysian fashion student Christine Kong Peoi.

The young designers were one of 10 teams in the Virtual Re-Start Fashion Competition, created by Education New Zealand to expose the quality of national fashion and design programmes internationally.

Miss Scott leaves Dunedin for Malaysia tomorrow, to show the collection in a New Zealand Week gala event at the nation's capital on March 11.

Her four outfits were inspired by the ''gothic revival'' of the Christchurch Cathedral and controversy about its temporary cardboard replacement, Miss Scott said.

''It was more about the idea of the cathedral than the physical look of it - the fact that it is such an iconic thing and now it's gone. People wanted to replace something irreplaceable, which caused so much controversy,'' she said.

Each team was given $1000 to help produce their garments, which had to reference the Christchurch Re:START project and include something suitable for a cocktail or evening function.

Miss Scott said ''Before Birth: Fall 2013'' comprised ''moody'' blue and black leather, ''brought to life with bronze accents'' as well as pearly cream leather pieces.

''This supports the idea of the journey from the earthquakes to where the city is today,'' she said.

As well as time constraints, language barriers proved a challenge for the Otago Polytechnic graduate.

She said it was hard at times to ''marry'' different aesthetics and check each design detail with her team-mate ''down to the last stitch on a fully pleated silk chiffon jumpsuit''.

''The whole collaboration has been a massive learning curve and opened my eyes. It was time consuming and required a lot of patience, but the positives definitely outweigh any negatives,'' she said.

Miss Scott received a donation of leather hides from New Zealand Light Leathers, fabric sponsorship from Global Fabrics and Cooper Watkinson Textiles, and support from polytechnic staff, which she said was ''humbling''.

She planned to travel through Asia for a few weeks after the competition, which she hoped would ''lead to the next thing''.

The winning team receives $10,000.

Otago Polytechnic academic leader of fashion Margo Barton said the competition provided a challenge to New Zealand's top students and would be ''pivotal'' to Miss Scott's growth as a young designer.