Project Runway winner's big debut at Fashion Week

By Rosie Kelway

NZ Herald·

26 Aug, 2015 05:00 PM2 mins to read

Sean Kelly back in his Auckland studio ahead of his show. Photo / Anna Lee

Sean Kelly will be in the Fashion Week spotlight tonight to showcase his new collection.

Sean Kelly, the Kiwi winner of Project Runway, has returned home to debut his first collection since the US reality television show last year, showing at New Zealand Fashion Week tonight.

An audience of close to 700 people will pack out the main runway space at NZFW, where he will present 25 garments: the largest range the promising designer has put together.

The 25-year-old admits to feeling pressure ahead of the show, not just here but from overseas too.

"There's a lot of spotlight on me internationally, around the whole production of the show - everyone wants to know what I am doing next."

Kelly wowed judge Heidi Klum and mentor Tim Gunn on the show, memorably creating a dress with dye built into the seams that turned from white to multi-coloured when "rain" fell from the ceiling. Klum still raves about it, telling Viva earlier this year: "He's very technically gifted, and had some great ideas - I mean, he had some of the best designs I feel like I've seen over the last 12 years of doing Project Runway!"

Kelly grew up on a dairy farm in Taranaki and studied fashion design in Wellington at Massey University, before moving to New York. He has been back in New Zealand for the past three months working on the range, which is based around the idea of artists' muses.

Kelly plans to sell his debut collection online and hopes to find stockists in New York, where he will also base himself for the foreseeable future. He also has an off-site presentation lined up to deliver to key media at New York Fashion Week next month.

Earlier in the week, NZFW managing director Dame Pieter Stewart said she was encouraged by some of the new design talent showing at this year's event. "There's some very special new young designers that I hope manage to get enough behind them to be sustainable," she said, naming Sean Kelly as one to watch.