The international flavour at iD Dunedin Fashion Week is set to intensify this year, when models from Shanghai will take to the catwalk, in a first for the annual event.
As part of a collaboration between iD, Otago Polytechnic and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 10 models from the Chinese institution will feature in the iD Dunedin Fashion Show and iD International Emerging Designer Awards next month.
It will be the first time models for the shows have been sourced from outside Dunedin.
This year, iD organisers have also opened the event's modelling contracts to agencies in Queenstown and Auckland as well as to independent models.
Previously, Ali McD Aart Agency dominated iD modelling, as a sponsor and long-time supporter of the event.
The Chinese models were all completing a bachelor of fashion performance and planning degree.
Fashion Week committee chairwoman Susie Staley said they would add another dimension to the runway shows.
''This is a fantastic opportunity for all models and designers involved. Potentially, it could open doors to future collaborations and give local designers the confidence to start looking to China, which is part of the Dunedin City Council's economic vision in relation to Project Shanghai,'' she said.
Otago Polytechnic communications director Mike Waddell said the collaboration would provide visiting models with an original experience and further forge the commitment between Shanghai and Dunedin as sister cities.
Last October, six Otago Polytechnic fashion design students were selected to show their work at Shanghai Fashion Week as part of the tertiary institutions' collaboration.
