Creations from as far afield as Israel, Croatia and Austria will be winging their way to Dunedin to dazzle fashion-lovers at the iD International Emerging Designer Awards.
The eighth annual event will be held on March 29, when 28 designers from seven countries will vie for more than $9000 worth of prizes and the chance to exhibit at the iD Dunedin Fashion Show.
Otago Polytechnic designers to make the cut were Grace Averis, Phillip Hawkins and Jojo Ross.
Inspired by authors, photographers and physics, their collections varied from statuesque, structural pieces to those featuring wooden breastplates and quilting.
The finalists will be judged by Tanya Carlson, of Carlson, Sara Aspinall, of Company of Strangers, and Anjali Stewart, of twenty-seven names.
Ms Carlson said it was exciting to see more menswear collections among this year's entries, alongside many applicants showing sustainable processes and a greater awareness of the environment.
iD event co-ordinator Victoria Muir said the awards were continuing to attract international talent.
"For the first time since this international fashion competition was launched in 2005, we have a finalist from Canada, with an even stronger representation from New Zealand and Australia. Every year I'm amazed at the quality of the entries we receive, and this year is no different. I've collated over 100 entries from 11 different countries, representing some of the most prestigious fashion schools in the world," she said.
Other New Zealand finalists are Vihanga Mahesa Sontam, of the Auckland University of Technology; Luke Mues, Samantha Murray and Andie Ye Ji, of Massey University; and Sally Huang and Yun Shin Do, of Whitecliffe College of Art and Design.
Australian finalists are Carolina Barua, Allison Bell, Jon Cordiano, Katie Dickinson, Christina Exie, Jane Fuge and Chris Ran Lin, of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; and Penny Allen, Ben Bala, Kacey Devlin, Natalia Grzyowski, Patricia Kapeleris, Caitlin Murray and Keira Paradice, of the University of Technology, Sydney.
Other finalists are Tanja Bradaric and Taro Ohmae, of the University of Applied Arts, Vienna; Yvonne Lin, of Ryerson University, Canada; Verdrana Mastela, of the University of Zagreb, Croatia; Renana Krebs, of the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel; and Julia Klein-Klute, of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland.
• iD Dunedin Fashion Week runs from March 27 to April 1.