Pest makes good on catwalk

Jane Avery's label Lapin makes stylish use of rabbit fur. Photo / Peter McIntosh

A Dunedin designer making use of an ever-replenishing Otago resource will make her debut on the catwalk next year.

iD Dunedin Fashion Week has announced its line-up for the 18th version of the show.

New Zealand outdoor brand Swanndri will join regular labels Carlson, NOM*d and Company of Strangers in the line-up for the March event.

Another designer new to the show at the Dunedin Railway Station show is Lapin, a range of luxury rabbit fur coats, designed by Jane Avery.

The Dunedin designer, a former television reporter for the Holmes show, said she had been making clothes for 15 years, and had been keen to start a fashion business.

She moved to Dunedin in 2011, and her parents moved too, from Templeton to Bannockburn.

"You go for a walk up there, clap your hands and the ground moves," she said, referring to the rabbit

problem in the area.

She said the furs were a byproduct of the South Island rabbit meat industry, and tanned in Invercargill. She hoped to turn the pest's fur into a resource on a par with possum fur.

Avery said she was "delighted, thrilled and very happy" to have made it to the catwalk.

The event's selector, Auckland stylist Sarah Stuart, said she was impressed by the quality of applicants.

Those chosen would create a dynamic and inspiring show.

"From dark, moody layering to feminine florals and colour, what I love about this show is its absolute variety."