Still time to enter Bernina Northland Fashion Awards

Pakotai School students Nia and Dellabee get ready for this year's Bernina Northland Fashion Awards.

Northland's largest amateur fashion design competition - The Bernina Fashion Awards - is putting out the call to all budding creatives with a passion for fashion, with entries closing tomorrow.

The iconic event is in its 42nd year and has a strong track record of entrants and winners going to careers in the fashion and design industries in New Zealand and the fashion capitals of the world.

Entries are a bit low on previous years and with the deadline tomorrow organisers want to encourage as many people as possible to enter. This year's event has a prize pool valued at $15,000 to encourage people to enter their best work.

Whangarei Girls' High School has one of the biggest Textile and Fashion Technology facilities in New Zealand. Long time entrant and Head of Department, Rachael Pedersen, views this unique event as an opportunity for her students to dip their toes into the exciting world of Fashion Design and Wearable Arts competitions.

Pedersen would like to see a turn-around in the decline of local secondary schools offering the subject to students. She sees much creative talent coming out of Northland and promotes the numerous training and career pathways that the industry provides. Last year four of her students took first place for their designs with other students taking a place or recognised as a top entrant.

"This event provides an authentic platform for the students to work towards with their assessment projects, on top of this, they develop some of their soft skills, communicating with the judging panel, liaising with the organisers, co-operating back stage, all with a healthy dose of grit and tenacity," she said.

This year students from a small rural school in Pakotai, 45km northwest of Whangarei, will be hosted in a "behind the scenes experience" which will include free tickets to the matinee show with backstage access that will allow them to see how the event is run from behind the scenes.

Tim and Sandy Robinson from Bernina Northland hope that this unique experience will encourage these young students who have begun designing garments and learning how to sew this year, developing their skills.

The fashion awards show will be on September 28 at Forum North, Whangarei, with a matinee/rehearsal show from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and the awards show from 6pm to 10pm. Visit Bernina Northland Fashion Awards online to download the application form or at the Bernina Northland Shop in the Strand Arcade.