Wairarapa fashionista walks silk road

INDIAN VENTURE: Martinborough's Toni Renwick (left), with a model in the Indian silk cocktail dress she designed, is heading to India to work with young fashion designers.

From the catwalk in Auckland to working with Indian design students - Toni Renwick's budding fashion career is going from strength to strength.

The Martinborough woman's Indian silk design displayed at New Zealand Fashion week last month won her a Prime Minister's Scholarship for Asia.

In November, Ms Renwick and 14 of her fellow New Zealand Fashion Tech students will be travelling to Sathyamangalam in southern India, where they will share and recreate their designs with students at the Bannari Amman Institute of Technology.

Ms Renwick, 21 is excited to be travelling to India.

"It'll be an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone," said Ms Renwick, who studies at the NZ Fashion Tech campus in Wellington.

"My dream career at the moment is a fashion buyer or fashion intern - so working overseas will prove I'm capable when applying for jobs."

Ms Renwick and her classmates debuted at this year's New Zealand Fashion Week at the Resene Designer Selection Shows, with garments made from delicate hand-woven Indian silk.

The silks, in a variety of colours chosen by Resene, were imported from the weaving village of Doddampalayam, and Fashion Tech students were tasked with turning them into contemporary-chic fashion item.

Ms Renwick designed a cocktail-style dress, with a slashed neckline and A-line pleated skirt, in hot pink and apricot.

"I like silk - I admire the way the Italians use it in their smart-casual designs, which is what I went for," she said.

After being displayed at Fashion Week, the students' designs were featured at the Resene Colour Awards.

To complete the project, the students who created the 15 best looks were selected for the trip to India - where they will see the ancient art silk production first hand.

Once in Sathyamangalam, Ms Renwick and the other students will gift their design patterns to the Bannari designers, who will recreate each look under the New Zealanders' mentorship.

In turn, the Fashion Tech students will learn about Indian textile production and the art of making a silk sari.

NZ Fashion Tech managing director Kevin Smith said the exchange would be a "hugely valuable experience".

"This is taking our students beyond the classroom and giving them real international and commercial perspective," he said.