Young designer takes top Style Pasifika award
The avant-garde art movement Cubism is the inspiration behind the design that took top honours at the Westfield Style Pasifika New Zealand Fashion Awards.
Auckland’s Nadeesha Godamunne, 22, won the Westfield Style Pasifika Supreme Award with her first-ever entry into the awards, her 3 Piece collection 'Trompe L’oeil'.
Judges described Godamunne’s three screen-printed dresses as “refreshing” and “very unusual”.
“It was a great use of fabrics and new technology which is something that hasn’t been used a lot before,” judge Denise L’Estrange-Corbet from WORLD said. “And it was just so well executed – the design was great for the fabric, and the whole look. It was a great design and deserves to win.”
Godamunne, who is doing an honours degree in fashion at AUT, hand drew the 2D and 3D design, which was then printed onto cotton knit fabric using the latest screen-printing technology. The result was three dresses, each giving the illusion of several layers of clothing.
Another first-time entrant, Shenade Smith from Tauranga, was runner-up with a garment that paid homage to Sir Edmund Hillary.
Smith, who is doing a diploma of fashion and design at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, used the New Zealand $5 bill, which bears Sir Ed’s picture, as inspiration for the garment she entered into the FLAVA 96.1 Urban Streetwear category.
On Top of the World was constructed out of over 400 rectangle-shaped pieces of fabric, each digitally printed with a replica of the $5 bill. Smith took each $5 bill and constructed a layered dress with a separate possum fur and leather hood.
Judge Francis Hooper from WORLD said Smith’s entry was a “stand out”.
“It is a fabulous idea, executed brilliantly. It was really well considered, it had the right elements of humour and irreverence, yet it was absolutely luxurious. I can’t wait to see the $100 version,” he said.
The Supreme Winner takes away $3000 in prize money and two return tickets to the Pacific on Pacific Blue. The runner-up wins $2000 in prize money. Each category winner receives $1000.
About the judges
Judging the awards this year are New Zealand fashion designers Denise L’Estrange-Corbet and Francis Hooper from WORLD, Liz Mitchell, Meegan Webster from MAX, Wade Hawkins from Barkers and Mary Ama from the Waitakere City Council.
- Winners and runners up in the Westfield Style Pasifika New Zealand Fashion Awards 2009
Youthtown Traditionally Inspired
Winner: Mele Alamoni & Patricia Santos (Glen Eden, Auckland)
Runner up: Tallulah Filloy (Queensland)
Resene Asia Pasifika
Winner: Shuai Zhangi (Te Aro, Wellington)
Runner up: Donna Dinsdale & Debra Laraman (Te Puke)
MAX Three Piece Collection of Day Wear
Winner: Nadeesha Godamunne (Remuera, Auckland)
Runner up: Caroleena Bingham (Glenfield, Auckland)
NZAF-PPP Pasifika Hero
Winner: Jo Odgers (Mt Maunganui)
Runner up: Candy Elsmore (Mt Albert, Auckland)
Flava 96.1 Urban Street Wear
Winner: Shenade Smith (Tauranga)
Runner up: Andre Tamblyn-Johnston (Gore)
Barkers Pasifika Menswear
Winner: Donna Dinsdale (Te Puke)
Runner up: Ana Draca (Hillcrest, Hamilton)
Schwarzkopf Evening Wear
Winner: Visesio Thomsen (Manurewa, Auckland)
Runner up: Angie Edgar (Tauranga)
Pacific Blue Pasifika Bridal
Winner: Trish Strongman (Mt Maunganui)
Runner up: Jacinta Fitzgerald (Mt Maunganui)
Te Puni Kokiri Parent & Child
Winner: Amiria Skipwith (Papatoetoe, Auckland)
Runner up: Tarja Pabbruwe (Swanson, Auckland)
MAC Body Art
Winner: William Jakk (Mt Eden, Auckland)
Runner up: Aimee Waterhouse-Finch (Devonport, Auckland)
