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Jaeha designer Alex Kim has been assigned the title of New Zealand fashion's next big thing by the local press, and his talent has now been recognised internationally as well: the young designer has been announced as a top 10 finalist in the Mango Fashion Awards for 2008.
The awards recognise young design talent, and have several prestigious European fashion schools as co-organisers, including Central St Martins School of Art and Design. The top 10, which also includes Australian Josh Goot, Aleksandar Stanic and Fiona Sinha of label Sinha Stanic, and Peter Pilotto and Christian de Vos of label Peter Pilotto, are all vying for the 300,000 ($844,000) prize money which will be awarded next May. Past winners have also been approached to design a capsule range for European chain store Mango. Congratulations Alex!
Ruby's news
The new range from cute Melbourne label Gorman has just arrived at Ruby Boutiques (pictured), featuring printed collages, drawstring dresses and organic cotton T-shirts. In other Ruby news, the label has teamed up with men's streetwear brand Moneyshot to open an outlet store - but only for a limited time. The store is situated at 509 New North Road in Kingsland (next to cafe The Fridge), and will sell samples, seconds and end-of-line garments. The store will only be open until Christmas Eve, so could be the perfect place to grab some cheap but chic Christmas gifts.
Recycle your sunnies
Want new sunglasses for summer? Sunglass Hut have a great offer this Labour Weekend: take in a pair of old sunglasses you no longer want and receive $75 off new, full-priced styles. The offer is available at all Sunglass Hut stores from tomorrow until Monday. Special conditions apply.
Coppola turns designer
Director and all-round fashion icon Sofia Coppola is set to design a range of shoes and bags in collaboration with Louis Vuitton. Coppola has been BFF's with Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs for ages, and also recently appeared in an ad for the French house with her father, Francis Ford Coppola.
Pearl jam
An exclusive collection of South Sea pearl and precious stone jewellery worth hundreds of thousands of dollars will be on show in Auckland for two days only. The Autore jewellery, brought to New Zealand by jeweller Graeme Thomson, will be on display to view and to buy at the International Art Gallery in Parnell until Thursday 23 October. Check out the exclusive jewellery pictured above, at 259 Parnell Road, Auckland.
A model mum
The New Zealand winner of Egg Maternity's model search 2008 is Leonie Nicolaou-Purdie from Auckland. The 31-year-old is expecting twin boys in February, and won the prize of yummiest mummy after her husband entered her in the competition. She will appear in the maternity label's winter 2009 advertising campaigns, as well as winning a stunning $1000 Egg wardrobe.
Best in show
The fit-out of a store is just as important as the things that it sells, and the BeST Design Awards held last week recognised the top retail stores in New Zealand. Bendon Lambton Quay, Eyewear at Milford and Marilyn's Hairstylists each won gold at the retail environment category at the awards, which are organised by the Designers Institute of New Zealand.
An inspired work space
When kikki.K first opened in New Zealand, it was a godsend for people with a weird obsession with stationery. And now the Swedish design store are holding special 'paper flow solution workshops', as part of the Swedish Style New Zealand event. Two workshops, which will help you get ideas to transform your working environment into a inspiring place, are being held at the Shore City store tonight and at the Newmarket store tomorrow, from 6pm to 7.30pm . To register, call the stores directly. kikki.K Shore City, ph 489 1899. kikki.K Newmarket, ph 524 0156.