KEY POINTS:
A modern take on classic Kiwiana won the supreme award at Pacific-themed fashion show Style Pasifika last night.
Three silk dresses printed with designs from 1960s New Zealand tourism posters won over the judges to take the $3,000 top prize.
The twelfth annual showcase of Pacific-inspired fashion, music and dance was held at Auckland's Vector Arena, the first New Zealand-produced event to be held at the arena since its opening ceremony.
Organisers decided to move the event from the Auckland Town Hall after tickets for the smaller venue sold out last year.
Judge Francis Hooper of fashion label 'World' said Style Pasifika was New Zealand's premier fashion event.
"The industry actually sits up and listens, and that what every designer wants," he said.
Other judges included fashion designers Doris De Pont, Denise L'Estrange Corbet, Caroline Church and Liz Mitchell.
Mr Hooper said he knew instantly when he saw the winning dresses, which were entered as a three-piece collection, they would be a winner.
"They were magnificent," he said. The winning dresses, entitled, Tiki Tour '62, were the work of Katikati women Donna Dinsdale and Debra Laraman, who are both teachers at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic design school.
Organiser Stan Wolfgramm said he was happy the pair had won after entering the competition in many previous years.
"We are very pleased because they have tried so often and been very close so many times over the past six or seven years."
More than 300 designers from all over New Zealand and the Pacific entered a total of ten competition categories, including 'body art', 'Asia Pacific', 'parent and child' and 'urban street wear'. The winning design was entered in the 'three-piece' category. Each category winner took home $1,000.
Mr Hooper said there would be controversy over some of the category winners.
"Some of the winners are very out-there and different, and that's great."
He said New Zealand was developing its own signature style in the fashion world. Past winners such as designer Charmaine Love have gone on to international success. Ms Love, who won the supreme award in 2004, went on to design golf-wear for Michael Campbell and dress Hollywood stars including Ben Harper, Nelly and Robbie Williams.
Mr Wolfgramm said this year's bigger venue meant more lights, more sound and more people on stage. Nearly 300 cast and crew worked to put on the show, including 150 performers.
Performers ranged from Kapa Haka groups to groups like Nesian Mystik and South Auckland band, 3 Houses Down.
Mr Wolfgramm said Style Pasifika was something all New Zealanders could be part of. "It's about the fusion of all the different cultures that make up New Zealand."
