Weekender: Fashion Week beckons for Rotorua's Ashleigh

INSPIRED: Fashion student Ashleigh Price with her dress inspired by the paint colour Resene Pirate.

A former Western Heights High School student is set to catch the eye of the New Zealand fashion industry.

Ashleigh Price has scored the "best opportunity possible" showcasing her fashion design on the catwalk at this year's New Zealand Fashion Week.

Ashleigh is in the final year of her fashion diploma at New Zealand Fashion Tech and was offered the chance to showcase her work as part of a new education project.

The project began when New Zealand Fashion Tech owners Kevin Smith and Val Marshall-Smith teamed up with educators Giles Brooker and Prabha Govindasamy to create the unique New Zealand-India fashion education collaboration.

Fifty silk saris inspired by paint colours from Resene were selected and 45 students from New Zealand Fashion Tech were asked to design and make a contemporary-chic fashion look from the delicate hand-woven silks.

Ashleigh's dress was one of 10 looks from the Resene New Zealand Fashion Tech Colour of Fashion collection picked to open the five Resene Designer Selection shows at New Zealand Fashion Week.

She says she is drawn to the two colours she chooses for their vibrancy and contrast.
"I took my inspiration from fish scales and petals because I really like the way they overlap, creating texture and movement. When I saw the two colours I knew they would look great together and create some contrast."

Ashleigh says when she found out her design had been chosen she was "over the moon".

"I almost couldn't believe it. The experience is definitely something I will put on my resume.

"Not many people can say they've had their designs on show at a national fashion week."

Former Rotorua resident Ting Yu was also picked to showcase her design inspired by the paint colour Resene Deep Sea.

Resene will showcase the students' work on the coveted runways at New Zealand Fashion Week, at the Resene Colour Awards in September, in online galleries at both resene.co.nz and nzfashiontech.ac.nz and in other locations around New Zealand.

- New Zealand Fashion Week starts 5.30pm on August 27 at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland. Tickets to all five shows on sale at iTicket.