A childhood treat provided some sweet inspiration for Marlene Lewis to create the Supreme Winning creation at the Taranaki Fashion Art Awards.
"Second Hand Rose" made of hundreds of egg cartons not only received the top prize at the competition but also won the Rainbow of Complete Colour category.
Marlene, who works at Stratford Primary School in curriculum support, says she has always had an interest in wearable arts and design. "I was on a trip to Wellington with my sons when I went to a World Of Wearable Art show and was fascinated by the design and engineering of each piece."
When entering the competition Marlene says she found inspiration in a memory of when she was young. "I couldn't stop thinking about Dolly Varden cakes from when I was little, with the delicate icing roses."
Marlene says hours and hours of work went into replicating those roses out of egg cartons and engineering the construction of the dress.