Creativity Reigns At Debut 2012

30 May 2012 - For immediate release

Creativity Reigns At Debut 2012

Weaving together high couture and commercial sensibility, CPIT’s third year fashion students are drawing on creative inspiration and technical prowess as they prepare their collections for Debut 2012 on 29 June.

Jess Britten and Georgie Currie from CPIT’s fashion degree programme won the Westpac Young Designer of the Year award in 2010 and 2011 based on their Debut collections. This year’s students are once again impressing their tutors and mentors with their vision and their attention to detail.

“The industry involvement in our programmes and particularly in Debut is a big part of how we prepare our students for success in the fashion industry,” fashion tutor Nathan Ingram said. “The students receive design briefs from leading designers whom they have recently completed their work placements with. So the Debut collections need to reflect the aesthetic of the label the students worked with and appeal to that label’s market.”

Phoebe Ratcliffe-Reid is working to “a theme based around tacky Miami bling and country American style” from Stolen Girlfriends. Her goal is to produce 23 garments that could comfortably sit within the label’s upcoming collection.

“My style is quite ‘out there’ garments so I am balancing the Stolen Girlfriends wearability with my high fashion sense,” Phoebe said. “Stolen Girlfriends is a bit grungy, a bit rock ‘n rock… They have a young target market, so it’s cool and wearable, but edgy.”

An original print of wheat fields and blue skies on denim is one highlight of the Phoebe’s collection, titled Glitter Bomb My Banjo. Feedback from her industry mentors, which is part of her assessment, indicates she is well on the way to achieving her goal.

Melissa McIndoe completed her internship with Juliette Hogan and is now constructing evening, cocktail and casual wear for couples based on Juliette’s current winter collection Bittersweet Memories.

“Her style is very feminine. She describes her style as ‘clothes for well-mannered girls’. They’re proper and demure.” To explore her love of tailoring Melissa asked if she could include menswear, so for Debut 2012 Juliette’s girls now have well-mannered men on their arms.

“I just really wanted to get the menswear ideas down on paper for a start. There’s a lot of tailoring in men’s coats. As soon as Juliette said ‘cocktail evening’, I thought ‘there’s two suits’. It’s quite a bit of work!” she said.

“However I find the construction really exciting. You see your design on a person, the way the fabric works. I really like the practical work we do. This course is so industry focused that you can go straight into industry when you graduate.”

Work from the next generation of Christchurch designers will be on show on June 29 at 6pm and 8pm. Tickets are $15, available from www.ignition.ac.nz. For more information about CPIT’s Fashion Design and Technology programmes go to www.cpit.ac.nz (http://www.cpit.ac.nz/explore-cpit/our-schools/school-of-art-and-design/fashion) or phone 0800 24 24 76.

ENDS

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