Homegrown fashion
Christchurch’s inaugural Spring Fashion Festival just wrapped. It wouldn’t be a fashion week without a trend report, writes Metropol editor Nina Tucker.
In its three days of glory, the festival uplevelled our city’s sartorial spirit. If not for the energised street style I witnessed on the ground, it left inspiration for the art of getting dressed in its wake. But the overarching theme? An unapologetic desire to dress with individuality, creativity, and a sense of personal conviction. Fashion’s true beauty is in the uniqueness of its wearer, and I felt both joyful and proud to find this resoundingly clear at every show.
To a soundtrack that embodies how a sartorial summer should feel, models floated across the stage-turned-runway at Christchurch Town Hall’s James Hay theatre. Three days of shows, panel talks and styling sessions produced an event well overdue for our fashion-inclined community – attended by Christchurch’s finest fashion lovers, designers, sponsors and supporters.
Online fashion retailer The Iconic marked its first-ever runway presentation; designer Caitlin Crisp and beauty entrepreneur Mary Outram came together in ‘homegrown harmony’; Christchurch’s own Ladi6 shared her melancholic sound, and New Zealand Fashion Week creative director Dan Ahwa offered his artistic eye across the best of local fashion.
Waves of polka dots ruled both the runway and the average festival-goer’s OOTD (outfit of the day, if you’re new here).
What legendary designer Margarita Robertson offered in her signature gothic palette for the PLUME showcase, was balanced by the dress code of ticketholders for Caitlin Crisp’s resort ‘25 debut. Street style honoured Caitlin’s collection inspired by sunshine and the sea, while nodding too to Mary Outram’s butter yellow gradual tanning brand BONNIE, which added a glowing, golden layer of beauty to the runway.
TREND REPORT
- Spots and dots. I wish I had a dollar for every person or model I saw wearing a polka dot print. The trend has truly landed (as expected after fashion analyst @databutmakeitfashion reported polka dots more popular than florals for the northern hemisphere’s spring).
- Scarves. Silk scarves, specifically. Worn as a belt over a blazer around the waist, wrapped around a handbag, over the head and knotted at the nape bandanna-style – the silk scarf is a defining spring/summer accessory.
- Local design and manufacturing wins. Guests tapped into New Zealand’s fashion landscape – and a wide-reaching anti-Shein-and-Temu movement – showcasing homegrown talent from head to toe, a theme that champions the festival’s true purpose. See you never, fast fashion.
- “Lean into being brave and fighting for yourself” – a statement so true in whichever way you look at it, from leading local designer Juliette Hogan at the ‘How’d you get your start?’ panel talk.
Photography by Radlab @radlab_
