Paraparaumu College students win three awards at Toi wearable art competition

Catherine Lagarde, left, and Holly Popham, in the Feathers of Fire costume. Photo / Mike Mensah

Four students from Paraparaumu College have impressed in the Toi wearable art competition.

The Toi competition saw student designers from around the country exhibit their larger-than-life creations at the Showquest coordinated event.

The competition is in collaboration with the World of WearableArt with WOW founder Dame Suzie Moncrieff and WOW competition director Heather Palmer as the national judges.

Catherine Lagarde and Holly Popham's Feathers of Fire was a top 10 national finalist and won a design brief award in the Myths, Legends & Fantastic Beasts category.

"Our design was inspired by the mythical creature, the phoenix," their synopsis said.

"We wanted to incorporate aspects of flames and feathers of this bird, while also capturing its regal elegance that makes the phoenix so popular with many cultures.

"We wanted to explore different materials and textures that could make up the feathers, and give the effect of flames.

"The colour palette of reds, oranges and yellows represent the flames, the black to represent the ashes, from which the phoenix is reborn, and gold to show the phoenix's grace and magnificence, and place it has in different cultures."

Ally Fellows, Earth, Sky & Sea, was a top 10 national finalist and won a design brief award too in the Stories of the South Pacific category.

Ally Fellows (sister of Isla) with her Earth, Sky and Sea creation. Photo / Jack Mensah

"My garment is inspired by the Tongan Islands and Aotearoa New Zealand's culture.

"I used colourful magazines for all the weaving to represent the earth, sky, and sea.

"Ninety-nine per cent of the garment is made of magazines which have been woven around the dress."

And her sister Isla Fellows' Te Niupepa creation, in the Open section, was a top 10 national finalist and won a sustainable garment award.

Isla Fellows (sister of Ally) in the Te Nuipepa costume. Photo / Jack Mensah

"My design was based on the material newspaper. This is because it was easy to manipulate and shape the way I wanted it to.

"As a bonus, it was also a material that was sustainable to the environment."

Each girl won a Bernina sewing machine and a WOW prize pack for their efforts.

Paraparaumu College fashion and textiles head of department Sha Wray said winning three out of 10 senior national awards at Toi was "pretty exciting".

"They have done so well.

"Wearable art is a big part of our school culture and it's really good to have this [Toi] amazing platform for the students to showcase their work.

"And it's really cool to have that recognition from Dame Suzie and Heather Palmer."

Feedback from WOW:

Feathers of Fire — A wonderful garment for the Myths & Legends design brief. The balance of colours is excellent and it looks very well constructed. The wings of the phoenix are impressive.

Earth, Sky & Sea — The judges were really impressed by the detail and techniques used to create this garment, and thought it met the Stories of the South Pacific design brief beautifully. It is clear to see the amount of thought and work that has gone into this garment.

Te Niupepa — The judges really enjoyed the simplicity of design and technique using an everyday material that was then shaped and manipulated beautifully to form a sculptural work of wearable art.