Local fashion student a triple threat
Ara’s Alex O’Hagan won three major awards at this year’s Hokonui Fashion Design Awards in Gore, where amateur fashion designers showcase their work to industry leaders. In conversation with Metropol editor Nina Tucker, the third-year student talks about exploring control and spontaneity, and working with velvet to honour his grandma.
Tell me about your three wins?
I managed to come away with the Open Collections Award, the Best Use of Fabric Award, and the overall Award of Excellence, for a third-year collection. They represent so much and came at the perfect time. I put a lot into those designs after a few challenges throughout my degree. This collection is a result of pushing myself. These awards show what I can do, which is great for my confidence as I near graduation and my move into Aotearoa’s fashion industry.
Talk me through your designs from concept to craft to catwalk?
The collection is an exploration into control and spontaneity in the creative process and also in life. It’s about seeing what can happen in moments where you’re in control and what happens in those spontaneous moments when you lack control. I wanted to use the structure in tailoring and the lack of control of a fabric like velvet to see how control and the lack of it can coexist in these designs. I used shapes where there is a sense of protrusion through the tailoring to disrupt the controlled structure in the tailoring. My favourite piece from the collection is the jacket with the tulle bustle coming out the back, I think it’s demonstrative of the whole concept.
What were the biggest challenges and triumphs creating these looks?
I wanted to honour my grandma who loved fashion and worked as a tailoress in Ōtautahi. She used to make jackets and gowns out of velvet, so I wanted to celebrate that. The velvet proved to be a real challenge, trying to sew it and also pushing my skills to the limit to make sure I ended up with something I could be happy with, and that my grandma would be too.
Can you describe your connection to fashion?
I am inspired by fashion’s ability to help us understand the world and allow us to communicate with each other. I love the creative process and design. Making a meaningful concept, which is then communicated through garments where viewers have to read between the lines to understand what the designer is saying, is my favourite thing in fashion. I am constantly inspired by how Kiwi designers are showing Aotearoa’s unique creativity.
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Quick Fire Questions
Describe your aesthetic in three words
Whimsical, dramatic and subtle.
The New Zealand and international fashion houses you dream of working for?
Zambesi, Kowtow, NOM*d for New Zealand brands.
Ann Demeulemeester, Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garcon are my favourite international labels.
Your favourite material to work with?
Although difficult, I do enjoy working with delicate silks and challenging fabrics like velvet because it’s quite rewarding when done right.
The most influential fashion personality to you?
Vivienne Westwood is really inspiring to me. She uses fashion as a political message which talks about important issues she is passionate about. Her work in the ’80s and ’90s is most influential to me.
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Hero image: The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards is the longest running competition of its type in Aotearoa; Ōtautahi fashion student Alex O’Hagan (@ajohagan) won a trio at the 38th awards in July. His work was subsequently showcased at New Zealand Fashion Week this August. Photographed by Jackie Gay.
