Stylish looking pupils and winners to boot

Tamsin Cooper with Phoebe Steele (left) and Analise Cowie. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Tamsin Cooper is better known around the globe for her high fashion designs of luxury clothing and accessories.

Now she has become what is believed to be the first globally-recognised fashion designer to design a school sports uniform.

And not just any old school sports uniform - one which appears to bring good luck to the wearer.

She has designed new netball and hockey uniforms for Dunedin's Columba College, and to date, the 1st XI hockey team has won all three games this season. "I think the new uniform might be lucky," she said.

Ms Cooper said she was asked to create the uniforms because of her connection to the school. Her 10-year-old son, Hugo, is a pupil in Columba College's junior school and her 4-year-old son Louis is about to start at the school next year.

"I've never designed a sports uniform before.

"I was pleased to be asked, but it was a little bit scary because it was a new challenge, a diversification of what my core business is."

She created three designs, based on elements of the school's colours and tartan, and was careful to include the schools logo - a dove.

They were then shown to the pupils who voted for their preferred design.

"It's really great that Columba College have asked a local designer to do this, because, I think that using a local designer gives the uniform a practical design edge and makes it distinctive."

Columba College 1st XI hockey team captain Phoebe Steele, 16, agreed: "I like the material. It's really light, cool and nice to play in."

The college senior A netball team centre Analise Cowie, 15, liked the dove logo and the school's tartan on the uniform.