Looking for dress sense and dollars

By LEANNE MOORE

The talented unknowns behind hip new label Sidewalk are among 17 fledgling designers hoping to catch the eye of international buyers and media representatives at New Zealand Fashion Week.

Sidewalk's husband and wife team, Campbell and Valeria Bevan, and Campbell's cousin Austin Moncrieff are creating what they call "street-couture" from their Waiheke Island design studio.

The trio hope Sidewalk's exposure at the L'Oreal-sponsored event in October will take the label a step closer to global domination. They were among the 50 designers whose participation was announced this week.

"Sidewalk is definitely going to be an international brand," says Campbell Bevan, 30, who met his Slovakian-born wife while modelling in Japan. "It's just a matter of whether it takes two or three years, or five. We've already achieved a lot in one year."

Sidewalk, which is financially backed by Australian artist Ken Done, is stocked in seven Australian stores and 30 New Zealand outlets, but Bevan wants to expand into Britain and Japan.

"If we get an order for $1 million worth of clothing at Fashion Week we could fulfil that," he says.

Auckland clothing label Federation is still getting interest from overseas almost one year after its fashion week debut. The label landed a deal with British department store Selfridges immediately after its edgy, yet commercial, runway show and a buyer in New York is also keen on Federation's mostly skater-inspired range.

Although Fashion Week undoubtedly increased their fame and fortune, Federation owners Nick and Jenny Clegg have decided to take a breather from the event this year. "We can't do everything and we are just so busy at the moment," says Jenny, 25.

"We might make Fashion Week a biennial event for us."

This year's line-up again includes well-established designers such as Zambesi, Nom D, Kate Sylvester, Nicholas Blanchet and Trelise Cooper, as well as Karen Walker, who is showing in New Zealand for the first time.

World designers Frances Hooper and Denise L'Estrange-Corbet - fashion week supporters from year one - will be back for year three.

The designers, known for staging shows that combine jaw-dropping style with flamboyance, irreverence and humour, believe the $40,000 investment is well worth it.

"It's so powerful, because you can cover a lot of ground through something like fashion week," says Hooper. "It's a short-term investment in terms of launching our winter range, but it has more long-term spin-offs in terms of getting people to understand our brand."

The same goes for aspiring new designers, he adds.

"Fashion week is really important for up and coming talent that don't have much money but have that raw ambition to get noticed.

"For a lot of these young designers, who don't have their own stores, it's the only time people can see them and connect with them - or disconnect with them, because it's a double-edged sword. It doesn't always work out favourably."

World's runway extravaganzas are among the most expensive.

It costs $12,000 for a solo runway show in the Great Hall at the Auckland Town Hall. That covers the venue, a producer, a video of the collection, power, security and cleaning, plus, of course, the attendance of international media reps and buyers. World spend another $28,000 on the collection, models and sound and lighting.

At the other end of the scale, young designers,can pay $3000 to take part in a group show, which includes the cost of models and sound and lighting.

At "new generation" level, the designers - such as Ngati Babe creator Te Kaihou Ngarotata, 13 - have to produce between eight and 10 outfits, and a solo show requires 50 outfits.

Not all designers who apply to take part in fashion week are accepted. One selection criterion is that the label has to be ready for export.

"Sometimes it's hard to work out which of the new generation designers are ready," says fashion week managing director Pieter Stewart. Every now and then you don't always get it right."

More experienced designers not quite ready to go solo can take part in a group show, requiring 20 outfits, for $6500. This is a good stepping stone," says Stewart.