ID Dunedin Fashion Week - New Artistic Dimension

ID Dunedin Fashion Week Inspires New Artistic Dimension

Veteran Dunedin fashion designer Toni Darling is joining forces with award winning Dunedin photographer Alan Dove to showcase Darling’s winter collection in an innovative artistic event on Friday 9th March at the Savoy during ID Dunedin Fashion Week.

‘Toi Toi- A Short Walk in the Woods’, will celebrate nature’s freedom and beauty through the expression of two art forms- Darling’s fashion design and Dove’s photographic images. Both artists have recognised the synergy of their work and the potential to enhance each other’s artistic statements by combining their talents to create a visual feast themed on nature’s alluring qualities.

In ten years, Toni Darling, an alumna of DFI, has consolidated her position as a leading light in Dunedin’s fashion industry. Never a slave to trend-based fashion, Toni has built up a loyal customer base from her retail store Halo, staying true to the soft, elegant and sophisticated hallmarks of her label.

Dunedin, has been photographer Alan Dove’s home for the last decade. Raising a family with his partner at Port Chalmers, Alan is inspired by Dunedin’s landscape and the nurturing qualities of Dunedin’s artistic community. He has built a successful business traversing the fields of fashion, editorial, advertising, portrait and wedding photography but is moving increasingly into the fine arts photographic realm.

Toi Toi’s nature theme is a natural extension of Toni Darling’s signature range. Ferns flaxes, moss, chestnuts, kowhai and cherries add their tones to the soft warm textures of her merino knits, wool lycra, silk velvet and lace. Her new eggshell blue and dusky pink rest easy in this spectrum. The release form of her baby doll cardigans and dresses together with her trademark palazzo, wide leg pants, offer a free flowing affect that Dove’s photography captures in dream like sequences set in Otago woodlands. Light catches on mother of pearl and iridescent shell masquerading as buttons or loops. Wool lattice overlays and screen prints produce patterns that catch the eye like an autumn windfall.

While Alan Dove’s slideshows are a celebration of Toni Darling’s fashion designs they also have an underlying social commentary that is an ironic juxtaposition of the transient nature of fashion against the fashion of treating nature as a transient resource.

Layers on layers, Toi Toi is set to bring an exciting and original dimension to the ID Dunedin Fashion Week. Tickets to the event will be on sale at Halo, St Andrews St and at Alan Dove Photography, George St.

Toi Toi- A Short Walk in the Woods -Friday 9th March 6.30pm The Savoy, Moray Place

ENDS

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