Hokonui: fashion mecca

The show: Next year, the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards will turn 20.

Since its beginnings, the event has grown to become one of the crowning glories for both Gore and for New Zealand’s fashion industry.

Alongside Auckland Fashion Week, the id Dunedin Fashion Week and World of Wearable Arts now based in Wellington, the Hokonui awards supported by Peugeot have helped kickstart the careers of many New Zealand designers.

The event began as a way for the community to get together to show off their skills but it quickly gained ground and drew in some of the larger names of the New Zealand fashion industry, with heavyweights Trelise Cooper, NomD, and Kate Sylvester returning time and again to be involved with judging.

Now a glamorous and prestigious affair, the show attracts entries from as far afield as Australia and Europe, and is similar to a major international rock concert – people are prepared to queue for hours to ensure a seat on the night.

Last year the event was split into two nights to ensure those involved truly got their moment in the sun, with Friday night’s show known as the Hokonui Strictly Design, while Saturday holds the supreme crown of the Gala Evening, when winners are announced, frocks showcased and audience members compete to get as glam as possible.

However, organisers remain adamant the event is for the community and use local stockists for everything from the models to the catering and, regardless of their experience, anyone can enter the awards.

Tickets are on sale at Cairns Music in Gore for the shows, to be held on July 28 and 29.

The executive producer: For the past 12 years, Heather Paterson has been involved with the event and has helped it go from strength to strength.

She began as a model in the show before entering and winning the following year.

After that, it was a slippery slide into organising the show, which she said had not always been easy.

“It’s a lot of work but I enjoy it. It’s my passion, really,” Mrs Paterson said.

She attributes the growing success of the awards to the fact they do not remain stagnant.

“We’re trying to improve and change it every year, not repeating the same old thing.” Numbers of garments entered in the awards have increased every year to the point where a limit of 200 had to be introduced to ensure a smooth-moving show and to give each garment its time in the limelight.

This year, a record 285 garments have been submitted for the show, leaving the judges the task of eliminating those less suitable for the catwalk.

Some parts of the awards have stayed the same; there are no limitations on the age of designers and they do not have to be fashion design students.

However, a lot of designs did come from fashion design schools, particularly in Dunedin and Christchurch, and interest from overseas had been growing, she said.

“We don’t necessarily need overseas people to make it work,” Mrs Paterson said.

“I think it works very well as a way to showcase what New Zealand has to offer.” And what New Zealand had to offer was a great deal.

“Because of the design of the country you get something quite unique with designs here.

“People aren’t afraid to follow their thoughts.” While the awards have grown, they have not become too big for Gore, and Mrs Paterson has been working hard to ensure they remain in the town that created them.

“We try to encourage local people to enter.

“They find it hard and think it’s for designers, but it’s not … We have got so many talented people here,” she said.

The main limitation on an entrant was not being employed fulltime in the industry or having a commercial design label.

And while the awards have come to be known alongside other internationally recognised fashion shows, Mrs Paterson said they were able to do something unique in Gore.

“What we do here, it can’t be done in Auckland. The community have a lot to do with it.” Small communities were able to get behind projects such as this and inject a uniqueness into it, as was seen in Nelson when it hosted the World of Wearableart awards, Mrs Paterson said.

Because they do not have access to top fashion models, these were sourced from around Southland, with school pupils, tertiary students and other willing volunteers putting their hand up to help out.

The atmosphere created by this was really positive and gave the show a good feeling, she said.

The models’ job is an integral part of the process, and includes long hours getting ready, rehearsing shows and being on display for the panel of judges. However, it had its benefits, too, with some models launching into a career after being scouted during the awards.

“They do a fantastic job, most of them are glad to be helping out,” Mrs Paterson said.

“It’s more of a big family … people really enjoy what they’re doing.” Much of her year is spent organising sponsors, enticing more money from established sponsors and inviting high-profile designers to sit on the judging panel.

This has become easier with time, with names such as Francis Hooper and Trelise Cooper wanting to come back to be involved again.

“The whole thing has been one huge learning curve.” The size of prizes have taken a huge leap during the past few years, with a top prize of $10,000 in cash and awards.

It was important for the awards to be seen as something to aspire to, and having prizes of $1000 on average meant this happened, Mrs Paterson said.

The established designer: Queenstown fashion designer Lisa Payne has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards since she first entered in 2005.

The high reputation had enticed her to enter while living in Christchurch but, because she was working in her own pattern-making business, she was not eligible.

However, after moving to Queenstown, she gave the awards a go.

“I found it to be amazing. I didn’t get anywhere but it was amazing to get everything up there (on the catwalk),” Ms Payne said.

The experienced encouraged her to start her own design label, Firefly, the following year. Using the Hokonui awards as a reference point meant some big names in the industry were familiar with her work, which helped her independent launch.

Since then Firefly has gone from strength to strength, featuring at New Zealand Fashion Week in Auckland as well as the id Dunedin Fashion Show.

Ms Payne’s label has been picked up by boutique stores throughout the country as well as in Australia.

This year she is returning to Gore as a guest judge for the event, alongside designers Kate Sylvester, James Dobson, of Jimmy D, and Doris du Pont, of DNA, and Sydney-based magazine Lino creative director Rex Turnbull.

“I’m very excited, I can’t wait to see all the entries and I think everything is going to be so skilled,” Ms Payne said.

In judging, she will be taking into account how commercial the designs are, possible target markets and design details and cut.

The newcomer: Winning the top prize at last year’s Hokonui Fashion Design Awards has helped to ensure young designer Helen Adam is well on the way to fashion design stardom.

Formerly of Invercargill, 21-year-old Ms Adam graduated from Otago Polytechnic’s school of fashion last year with a portfolio packed with excellent experiences.

As well as being involved in the id Dunedin Fashion Show, she was also selected as an Air New Zealand “Inspiring New Zealander” and spent a week working with designer Karen Walker.

Ms Adam’s experience with the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards has spanned the years after she first entered when she was in year 12 at school in Invercargill.

“It’s good because I got to see my stuff on the catwalk at an early age. There are not many competitions out there that anyone can enter,” said said.

Being able to see her designs against a range of other designers’ garments meant she could see what worked and what did not, which helped her get into fashion design school.

“I think it does help to do them when you’re younger if you carry on to design school. Then you start visualising what things look like on the catwalk,” she said.

Ms Adam is taking a year off, working in a retail store in Dunedin to save money before pursuing her own career, and is entering the awards for one last time with her collection, You Dark Cutie.

“It (the show) is of such a high calibre, with such good judges every year. Everyone knows it now, so you can put it on your CV and it’s definitely recognised.” Entering every year had helped get her name out into the industry and allowed top designers to see her work and remember it, Ms Adam says.

As well as winning the overall award of excellence last year, she also won the wool award.

“A couple of days afterward, everyone had heard it on the radio and saw photos in the magazines … It’s amazing how many people stopped me in the street to congratulate me,” she said.