KEY POINTS:
Student fashion may have a stereotype of being a tad cringeworthy, but AUT's Bachelor of Design (fashion) design degree has a history of turning out some of the fashion industry's top young talent. Past graduates, or Rookies as they are alternatively known as, have included former Deutz Fashion Ambassador winners Sherie Muys and Jann Wong, Camille Howie, whose label is now stocked at Scotties alongside the likes of Anne Demeulemeester and Marni, and her sister Frances Howie who went on to work at Lanvin in Paris. And of course there's the prodigial son of the AUT course, Alex Jaeha Kim, who showed his first collection at the Rookie show at Air New Zealand Fashion Week in 2006 and has since gone on to be named as the "next big thing" in the industry.
Twenty-one of this year's fashion graduates put their end of year capsule collections on the runway at a show at Auckland's St Paul's Church on Friday night - the first time in five years that the Rookie show hasn't been part of NZ Fashion Week.
Standouts from this year's group? Nadeesha Godamunne's clever collection combined hand-illustrated pieces inspired by the Cubism movement - what looked like several garments was actually just one shift dress. Alysha Gover made an impression on the industry before the show, having already created prints that appeared in Stitch Ministry's collection at NZ Fashion Week.
Other highlights included Jes Chang's pieces that looked to Victorian mourning clothes, and Felicity Speedy's oversized rain jackets made from recycled tents.
