Four of those designers were among hundreds of Otago Polytechnic students to graduate at a ceremony in the Dunedin Town Hall last Friday.
Mel Child, Roxanna Zamani, Siobhan Moroney and Sophie Hardy all graduated with Bachelor of Design (Fashion) degrees on Friday, alongside 21 of their degree classmates and Diploma in Design students.
Fellow finalist Laura Marshall graduated last year.
"It's great for these five Dunedin designers to be selected as finalists for the iD Dunedin Emerging Designer Awards, which has become a prestigious international event," Otago Polytechnic Fashion academic leader Margo Barton said.
The students submitted collections in October for judging and these collections will be showcased during the awards show.
With a collection entitled "Possession Obsession", Sophie Hardy (23) looked at the obsessions of collectors and used repetitive themes in her high fashion garments.
Siobhan Moroney (25) used principles of costume design inspired by the classic fantasy Howl's Moving Castle to create her high fashion collection entitled "A Blessing and a Disguise".
Her garments are strongly influenced by ballet costumes, reflecting Miss Moroney's work experience with the Australian Ballet.
A simultaneous repulsion from and fascination with mass production and its by-products formed the basis for the collection "Manufractured", created by Mel Child (21).
Following work experience with Presbyterian Support Otago, Miss Child used discarded zips, curtain hooks, buttons, beer tabs and vinyl records to embellish her garments.
Alongside the Dunedin finalists, the Emerging Designer Awards attracted entries from design schools throughout the world, with finalists coming from New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Switzerland, Japan and Sweden.
The awards show on March 11 will be a highlight of Dunedin Fashion Week.
