(PR.co.nz) The world of fashion design is plenty competitive, and – thanks to Westpac – the competition just got a whole lot hotter!
To celebrate the fifth year of their highly regarded Red Collection show at New Zealand Fashion Week, Westpac is launching a search for New Zealand’s three most exciting young designers for a dramatic live runway walk-off. At stake, a prize package to launch a career that includes cash, mentoring from leading designers and business banking advice.
The inaugural Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition has been created as a launch pad for emerging and high potential fashion designers. It is open to final year students, fresh graduates and designers new to the fashion market.
Aspiring designers have until 5pm on Wednesday 18th August to enter a portfolio of three fashion looks, along with a brief biography and a paragraph on their future fashion dreams via the competition’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/westpacyoungdesigner).
A panel of established fashion industry luminaries will then select ten outstanding entries as the Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition semi-finalists. These ten mini-collections will be uploaded to the official Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition Facebook page where the public will be invited to vote online for their favourites.
The three who amass the most public votes by Sunday 5th September will travel to Auckland to present their collections live on the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week as part of the Westpac Red Collection show on Thursday 23rd September. There, the winner will be announced.
Westpac looks forward to unearthing a winner with passion, vision and a strong aesthetic sense. Someone, who is capable of creating inspiring and original clothes that have impact on the runway, without forsaking wearability.
“We want to give young New Zealanders an opportunity to achieve a dream start to a career where they not only get to bring their ideas to life but also get mentoring and assistance on some of the disciplines needed to build a successful business and a household name of the future,” Westpac’s Head of Sustainability, Suzie Marsden said.
“We urge everyone who fits the criteria to enter. This is an opportunity to kick start a career and chase that dream.”
The Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition winner will receive a Westpac bank account with NZ$5000, along with a bespoke package of mentorship from designers, plus dedicated Westpac business banking advice.
Key Competition Dates:
Wednesday 4 August – Entries open
Wednesday 18 August – Application deadline
Friday 20 August – Finalists uploaded to Facebook, public voting commences
Monday 6 September – Top 3 announced
Thursday 23 September – Westpac Red Collection show, winner announced live!
Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition Facebook page details:
www.facebook.com/westpacyoungdesigner
Westpac Young Fashion Designer Competition Prize Package:
NZ$5000 in a Westpac business account
Mentoring from a Westpac Red Collection designer for 1 year
Business banking advice from Westpac for 1 year
Media Release 5 August 2010 from Westpac.