Turning trash to fashion treasure
SCRAP METAL as a fashion item earned designer Jordelle Simpkin high praise in the Taranaki Daily News Fashion Art Awards on Saturday night.
With 203 entries over nine sections, the show highlighted the talent of budding Taranaki designers. And there was a carnival atmosphere as a large crowd turned out for the event at New Plymouth’s TSB Stadium.
The overall prize was taken out by a garment called Under Pressure, designed and modelled by Jordelle (13) of New Plymouth.
The show’s producer and director, Lois Finderup, said Jordelle’s design was of a very high quality.
‘‘The standard of the garment was such that it could have won at the (internationally acclaimed) World of WearableArt show in Wellington.’’
The outfit is made from different pieces of scrap metal, including recycled tread plate and old pressure pipes. The head piece was made from a 1939 Chevrolet headlight.
Jordelle said she found the material for the garment in her father’s workshop and at a scrap metal dealer.
The runner-up award was given to Waitara’s Leeann Rapira and Bell Block’s Norma Joseph for their garment Wakamanaakia, and a special prize was awarded to seven-year-old designer Nouveau Rodgers. The judges awarded the special prize because they were so impressed with the quality of the first-time entrant’s garment, titled Lady Shady.
Mrs Finderup said the overall standard of the entries was high.
‘‘It’s just superior. How they can turn a chippy packet or something into some ornate work of art is mind-boggling.’’ She said the atmosphere at the show was superb, with plenty of laughs and a good time for all.