Teen designer Alana Spivey is still getting used to being a winner in the 2004 Bernina Secondary School Fashion Awards.
A Year 12 Taradale High School pupil, Alana, 16, goes to Wellington next month to meet one of the judges, inter-nationally acclaimed designer Trelise Cooper, and model her garment in a
fashion shoot. The rest of her prize for winning the Creativity in Sewing category was a Bernina Sewing machine and $1000 worth of equipment for her school. Alana learned she had won at yesterday's final assembly, and admitted being slightly shocked at having her name read out.
"It's amazing, it was really unexpected. It's only just hit me now," she said last night.
Her '60s-inspired design impressed the judging panel because of its hand-crafted, pink-and-mauve, silk jacket with a blue bow, and a fitted strapless bodice featuring hand-printed images of the Queen. The outfit was completed by blue three-quarter-length pedal pushers.
Cooper described the winning outfit as creative and colourful, with many different elements combining well.
"I think it is fantastic the awards not only focus on design creativity but also the quality of sewing and garment construction, which is so often overlooked," said Cooper.
Bernina representative Kerrie Hay and Beverly Newton from the Home Economics Teachers Association of New Zealand (HETTANZ) were also judges.
Havelock North High School Year 13 pupil Sara Bristow, 17, was also a finalist in the same category, and the Excellence in Techniques and Processes category. James Hargest High pupil Joanna Hazley won the latter, while Matamata College's Catherine Watts won the Accessory Design.
The awards attracted entries from more than 40 schools.
