Providing a runway to fashion success

Fashion Design graduates from Otago Polytechnic are among the global entries being considered for the iD International Emerging Designer Awards in April 2025.

The competition is one of the highlights of the popular iD Dunedin Fashion Week, which is now held every second year.

124 designers from 24 countries have submitted entries for the 2025 iD International Emerging Designer Awards, run in partnership with Otago Polytechnic.

And sitting around the judges table again this year is Dunedin-based designer Tara Viggo.

The founder of Paper Theory Patterns has been busy assessing entries, alongside experienced fashion designer and head judge Tanya Carlson, and Margi Robertson (founder and creative director of NOM*d).

It’s a competition Tara knows well. She was a finalist at the very first awards back in 2005, while still studying in Dunedin.

“But it's incredible to see how it's grown, and the standard of entries is just insane. It gets stronger and stronger every year.”

After graduating with a Bachelor of Design in Fashion from Otago Polytechnic, Tara spent more than 15 years working in London as a pattern cutter for some of the UK’s top designer brands, as well as making costumes for musicians including Groove Armada.

She’s still just as busy running her own business here but says that making time to be part of iD Dunedin is one of the highlights of her year.

“It’s really exciting, because I think when I spend time with people who’ve been working full-time in the fashion industry for 20 plus years, everyone can get a bit cynical sometimes. And we can see the same sort of stuff over and over again.”

“So it's always a real jolt to see the students’ work. They have such an open perspective and they're not constrained by the realities of being commercial.”

Portfolios from 18 New Zealand designers are in the mix, including 11 strong collections submitted by third year graduates from Otago Polytechnic.

Tara says for her, that demonstrates why it remains the top place in the country to study fashion design.

“I think that the fashion school here is incredible. Margo Barton's reach internationally is unrivalled in New Zealand. She has such good connections; I mean all the teachers do.”

“And the facilities here are really good. In terms of machines, they’re even better than any sort of high-end fashion brand that I've worked at. You’ve got everything you need.”

She says many of the themes and styles coming through from this year’s designers are a little more serious in tone, while others reference childhood nostalgia.

“It’s quite different to what we've seen before, actually.”

The finalists for next year’s International Emerging Designer Awards are due to be announced next week, and their garments will be showcased on the catwalk at Dunedin Railway Station as part of the iD Dunedin Fashion Show, which will take place on 4-5 April 2025.