Fashion graduate Kate Tillard has been selected as a finalist in Resene Colour of Fashion with this two-piece Covid-19 inspired design. Photo / Supplied
Fashion graduate Kate Tillard has been selected as a finalist in Resene Colour of Fashion with this two-piece Covid-19 inspired design. Photo / Supplied
A Hawke's Bay fashion designer who took inspiration from her time in lockdown has been named as a finalist at a prestigious fashion awards.
Whitecliffe College fashion tech graduate Kate Tillard has been chosen as one of 16 finalists for this year's Resene Colour of Fashion.
Students were asked to follow a design theme based on new beginnings following the nationwide lockdown.
Tillard said her two-piece set was created on the idea of being trapped during isolation.
"I got inspiration from being in a prison - it's based off how everyone felt and how their mood changed over that time – but also the hope that we had as a community."
She said being picked as a finalist has helped her bounce back after the pandemic disrupted her final year as a fashion student at Whitecliffe's Wellington campus.
"Being a finalist paid off, with all the struggles we went through with Covid, it really boosted my confidence," she said.
Hawke's Bay fashion designer Kate Tillard with her Resene Colour of Fashion teal blue two-piece design. Photo / Supplied
The Resene Colour of Fashion designs would normally open four Resene Designer Runway Shows at New Zealand Fashion Week, which has been cancelled.
Instead, the collection will make their runway debuts at the 2020 Whitecliffe Fashion Shows in Auckland and Wellington.
The first show will be held at the Auckland Town Hall on December 3, before a show at Pipitea Marae in Wellington on December 4.
This year's winner will be announced on the final night and will be presented with a new sewing machine, a pair of engraved shears and $1000 worth of fabric vouchers.
Resene marketing manager Karen Warman said despite the cancellations and postponements this year, she was pleased to be continuing the competition.
"Their work combined new elements: a new brief, their Resene colour, their lockdown experience, their fashion inspiration, the people who have influenced them most in their lives and the guidance of their talented tutors at Whitecliffe," she said.
The sixteen finalists' garments will also appear on posters, giving a splash of colour to Auckland and Wellington streets in the lead-up to Christmas.
Tillard, a former Sacred Heart College student, said she plans to start her own clothing brand.
