Rugby Meets International Fashion At Style Pasifika

RUGBY MEETS INTERNATIONAL FASHION AT STYLE PASIFIKA

This year’s Westfield Style Pasifika: Best of Pasifika is celebrating the World Cup with a Rugby Inspired International Designer Collection.

The collection will showcase garments by leading fashion designers from each of the 19 nations participating in the Rugby World Cup.

Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key has personally invited the international fashion designers to contribute to the collection with the challenge of designing a garment using New Zealand Merino wool.

These garments will also share the catwalk with winning designs from the Westfield Style Pasifika Fashion Awards and rugby inspired creations by celebrated New Zealand designers.

The showcase will be held over two exclusive evenings between the Rugby World Cup semi-final and final games on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 October at Vector Arena in Auckland.

Designer Textiles Business Manager, Brett McIlvride, says: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us to supply Merino fabric and showcase a premium product manufactured right here in New Zealand to a global market.

“The International Designer Collection will provide New Zealand’s Merino textile industry with amazing exposure and allow us to engage with international designers. We’re thrilled to be involved.”

Westfield Style Pasifika: Best of Pasifika NZ 2011, is one of only four flagship events to be supported by Government during the Rugby World Cup and will be a truly unique show that celebrates New Zealand’s place in the Pacific in spectacular style.

Show Producer/Artistic Director Stan Wolfgramm says: “In the wake of the Christchurch earthquake the addition of this category gives us the perfect opportunity to create an international buzz around Merino wool and farming, a significant Canterbury-based industry.

“It’s been a tough time for many Kiwis so anything which has the potential to put us on the map, support our industry and create trade and jobs is worth doing,” he says. “The Rugby Inspired International Designer Collection, made from New Zealand Merino wool, will be the only collection of its kind in the world, a symbol of global unity and national pride.”

The addition of the Rugby Inspired International Designer Collection will ensure this year’s Westfield Style Pasifika is an absolute must see event for all New Zealanders and international visitors.

Westfield Style Pasifika, now in its 17th year, is an iconic New Zealand event and the world’s largest indigenous fashion event. The awards within the event challenge designers to produce cutting edge fashion inspired by the unique and colourful fusion of Pasifika which is everything from this region of the world that makes us distinctive. The result is an explosion of fashion, art and culture, defining a uniquely New Zealand style.

Westfield Style Pasifika - Best of Pasifika NZ 2011
When: Tuesday 18 October (public event) & Wednesday 19 October 2011 (hosting/VIP event)
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
For more information visit www.stylepasifika.co.nz
ENDS

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