Issue #3

gyro otago polytechnic

student magazine

the fashion issue

emerging designer

awards & id dunedin

fashion week.

•

WEIRD WONDERFUL WORLD

By Garon Whitney.

pg 4

Issue 3

CONTENTS

•

EMERGING.By Alena Plaksina & Eli Yen.

pg 6-7

•

iD 2013 DUNEDIN FASHION WEEK.

By Merrin Bath

pg 8-10

•

GYRO GIG GUIDE.By Mark Baxter

pg 8-10

•

BON APPETITBy Zehavit Darlington

pg 5

Gyro Magazine•

Published by. OPSA. Copyright (C) OPSA 2012. A member of ASPA.

Set in. Arno Pro & Gills Sans. Cover. Helvetica Neue Condensed.

Advertising. [email protected]

Editor. Andrew Oliver. [email protected]

Technical Editor. Mark Baxter. [email protected]

Head Designer. Dave Strydom. [email protected]

Words. Andrew Oliver, Alena Plaksina, Eli Yen, Garon Whitney, Merrin Bath

Images. Irene van der Meer, Jade Street

Title Page. Model dressed by Carlson

I was honoured to attend and speak at our March Graduation Ceremony at the being of the month. It was great to see so many of our graduates cross the stage in their graduation regalia. As I said in my graduation speech, the endless hours of lectures and course work is all worth it at the end of your Degree, Certificate or Diploma, when you cross that stage and receive you Qualification. So if the semester is feeling a little tough, or you are just having a bad week, think about that amazing feeling you will get when you finally reach you end goal....Graduation. As you may have seen in the media, Otago Polytechnic Students are excelling everywhere, as this is the Design issue it is more than fitting that we congratulate recent Graduate Rakel Blomstergberg on her achievements at the recent ID Fashion Week and gaining the emerging

designer award! Congrats from us here at OPSA.On the OPSA front we have had our Maori, PI and International meeting where we had a great turnout and some awesome people put their names

forward to be on our executive committee!We have a few more meetings coming up so I hope

to see you all there!

OPSA President 2013 signing off!

I know very little about fashion and the older I get the more I suspect it is some sort of inside joke being played on me that I will never understand. While Dunedin’s standard winter uniform of black puffers, grey sweatpants and Speight’s jandals remains eternal, every year I see a new fashion trend spread through the city like wild fire, more often than not leaving me frightened and confused; and that is exactly why I sent Alena Plaksina and Eli Y to iD Fashion week as Gyro‘s fashion correspondents, they know all about fashion and they were both blown away by the entire event, check out their up close and personal article on the Emerging Designer awards on page 6. This issue we have some exclusive photos from the show thanks to Irene Van Der Meer and Jade Street. We also have weird and wonderful news from all around the world and a touching welcome to Dunedin by Zehavit Darlington. Thanks and enjoy!

Sincerely,Andrew Oliver

WOW! IT HAS BEEN A BUSY

COUPLE OF WEEKS, FOR STUDENTS,

STAFF AND RECENT OTAGO POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES.

DEAR READER, ONCE AGAIN, FOR A BRIEF AND SPARKLING MOMENT, DUNEDIN SHOOK OFF ITS SHACKLES OF SINGLETS AND STUBBIES AND JOINED THE RANKS OF PARIS AND MILAN AS TOP DESIGNERS AND MODELS FLOCKED FROM AROUND THE GLOBE TO SHOW OFF THEIR EXPERT SKILLS AND FABULOUS CREATIONS AT OUR VERY OWN ID FASHION WEEK.

OPSA President 2013. Rebecca Swindells.

GYRO EDITOR 2013. Andrew Oliver.

THE LUCK OF THE NORWEGIANSA family in Norway has won the national lottery three times in the past six years. In another strange coincidence, each win has occurred within hours of the same family member giving birth. Nineteen year old Tord Oksnes won 2.3 million dollars, his sister Hege Jeanette pocketed 1.6 million in 2010, while their father won 800,000 dollars in 2007. The Oksnes put the luck of wining the jackpots down to Hege Jeanette getting pregnant. With other family members wanting in on the lottery auction, they are urging her to have more kids, something she is not sure about. The lottery numbers were randomly chosen by the machine and no lucky numbers or birth dates were used.

RAP LOCKDOWNOne of the 90’s best theme songs for a sitcom got a nineteen year old arrested and forced an entire schooling district into lockdown in the US state of Pennsylvania. Travis Clawson’s voicemail message, inspired by the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song, was the source of the trouble. A school receptionist had called him to confirm an upcoming appointment, but mistook his voicemail “shooting some b-ball outside of school” for “shooting some people outside of the school”. The receptionist then followed school policy by calling the police. A SWAT team locked down the school then located and arrested Clawson who was released a few hours later without charge. The police defended their actions out of public safety . The Clawson family have engaged a lawyer for possible civil action.

AN AWESOOOME PARTY.If you thought your parents threw awesome 16th birthday parties, you haven’t seen anything yet. A mother made her 16 year old sons dreams come true by ordering two scantily clad female strippers to perform highly sexualised dance routines at his 16th birthday. Judy H. Viger, 33, from New York State, has being arrested and charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of children. If convicted Viger faces up to a year in prison. Outraged parents of some of the party goers complained to police after they had seen near real-time photos of the strippers in action on Facebook pages. It is alleged that the strippers preformed lap dances on teenagers aged as young as 16 at a party held at a local bowling alley in November last year. The party was attended by approximately 80 people with some as young as 14. The bowling alley could lose its liquor licence if found that it had knowingly allowed strippers on its premises or served underage patrons. Police investigations are continuing. Viger is scheduled to appear before the courts in late March.

WHEN PIGS SURF.Pigs might not be able to fly. But at least one of them can hang a hoof. The six week old kunekune cross pig, Zorro, and his owner Matthew Bell head down to Mount Maunganui beach every lunchtime to catch some waves. Matthew simply wanted to try something new, so he decided to teach a pig to surf. It a pretty easy task to accomplish; “I just wade out and chuck him on the front of the board before paddling out with one arm.” Mathew intends to keep Zorro surfing for a few more months until he is too big to do so. Zorro is getting quite a following with his very own Facebook page and videos of him appearing on numerous overseas news websites. Look it up it, is really amazing and cute.

WEIRD WONDERFUL WORLD.A brief low-down of some quirky news events from the last few weeks by Garon Whitney.•

BON APPETITBy Zehavit Darlington•

Life can be so confusing sometimes, we are living in a world full with endless

choices; who to friend, what to eat, where to shop, what music to listen to,

what clothes to wear.

Sometimes you can’t help but wonder what it was like a thousand years ago,

when all one knew was the tribe they were born in to. You grew your own

food and made your own minimal items to cover the flesh from the cold or

to preform in the tribal ceremonies.

Many of you have only recently landed in this unique town. Cosy little

Dunedin houses so many individuals from all over this planet, individuals

who are sharing information while learning to listen, forming a new tribe by

integrating the various tastes and flavours of the world, fusing varieties of

art and music and fashion, dressing us all with spectacular garments of the

new and exciting.

Welcome to Dunedin, settle in, unpack your party tricks and dazzle us.

Emerging

OVER THE PAST WEEK DUNEDIN

HAS BEEN MYSTERIOUSLY FILLING

TO CAPACITY WITH BEAUTIFUL,

TALENTED AND MARKEDLY WELL-

DRESSED PEOPLE. WHO ARE THEY

AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?

WELL, GIVING YOU THE DIRTY (OR

MAYBE THE INCREDIBLY CLEAN)

LOWDOWN ON THE ID FASHION

WEEK EMERGING DESIGNER

AWARDS ARE ALENA PLAKSINA

AND ELI YEN.

•

iD Fashion Week. How does it fit in with Dunedin and our creative culture? Dunedin is quite an insular community and these types of hubs can be perfect breeding grounds for creativity – or at least it certainly appears to be the case here. I think one part of the fashion weeks’ genesis is the incredible drive to promote these creative people and their creations in a way that allows the wider community to access them. This year, the Emerging Designer Awards attracted over one hundred international entries, which were narrowed down to thirty finalists. Three of these designers graduated from Otago Polytechnic School of Design last year. In terms of design and technical finesse, do you reckon we hold our own globally? Absolutely! The School of Design works hard to equip young designers with a solid foundation in all things technical, but in addition the course covers marketing, promotional and business material. A unifying thread amongst the three finalists this year was that each designers’ intent/story was clearly communicated and the caliber of technical applications were industry-perfect. Comparing these local designs with the

international works it is clear that Dunedin’s outputs are as visually engaging and technically intricate as they are overseas.2012 Otago Polytechnic School of Design graduate Rakel Blom took out first place on Thursday night and five thousand dollars to support her career. And what a crowd pleaser! Yes, it was truly a thrill to hear this judgment being passed and it could not have happened to a more deserving person. I am completely biased in commenting about this because she is a dear friend of mine but I can objectively say that her designs have always been captivating. She’s always understood her strengths and has maintained a steadfast direction in her design aesthetic, displaying her impeccable eye for colours, graphics and textures. This year, the impact of her collection was immediately felt amongst the audience which was an exciting nod that her collection was indeed well received by the public...the judges obviously felt the same way too! The underlying feature of the Emerging finalists seems to always have been the communication of ‘strong’ collections. It’s such a non-definitive word to use but it’s perhaps the best term to describe them. All the collections

shown are incredibly diverse, which is why the Emerging shows are so incredibly impressive. Some collections show strong technical applications, others strength’s are more visually impressive and others are a dynamic fusion of both. Overall, the night was best summed up by one of the judges, star milliner Stephen Jones, whose impressive career spans over 30 years. During his public talk on Thursday morning, Stephen was asked to provide budding milliners and young designers with some sage advice; to Jones, the most important thing was that as a practitioner you must love what you do, even in the wee hours of the morning, when you’re battling endlessly with a particular design. After the awards ceremony, Stephen referenced this advice, saying that one of the most inspirational things about the night was the fact that “the love and passion the finalists felt towards their craft was apparent. They loved it, it showed and was incredibly infectious”.

More than 3000 fashion lovers were captivated by showstopping collections and breathtaking performances – including a 33 hat retrospective collection from UK milliner Stephen Jones and Royal New Zealand Ballet ballerinas on the catwalk in a New Zealand first for Tamsin Cooper’s collection to celebrate the Ballet’s 60th anniversary – at this year’s 14th iD Dunedin Fashion Shows held at Dunedin Railway Station on Friday 15 March and Saturday 16 March. iD Dunedin Fashion Week delivered a standout iD Fashion Show – dubbed the best yet by the 80-strong media contingent – heading into next year’s 15th anniversary. Guest New Zealand designer Yvonne Bennetti amazed crowds with her stunning luxury eveningwear and bridal wear, while popular local favourites NOM*d, Carlson, Mild-Red, Tamsin Cooper, Charmaine Reveley, Company of Strangers and DADA Vintage showed inspired winter collections to sell-out crowds on the Southern Hemisphere’s longest catwalk. “It was fantastic because it was

2013 iD Dunedin Fashion Week captures the city and dazzles audiences.

by Merrin Bath

•

Carlson

a really big production,” says Stephen Jones.“Often hats are part of more intimate productions, but at iD there were lots of lights, lots of models, thousands of people, ballerinas – and with everything together, it was really magical.”Hosted by TV3’s Charlotte Shipman and Tova O’Brien, the annual iD Dunedin Fashion Shows were the culmination of a week-long celebration of fashion

events in the city. The shows followed Thursday night’s iD International Emerging Designer Awards – where top new talent from around the world vied for top prizes, judged by Jones and leading Australian fashion authorities Associate Professor Karen Webster and Glynis Traill-Nash, alongside our own Tanya Carlson and Margi Robertson (NOM*d). Show highlights also included

capsule collections from MisteR, DEVáL, Jane Sutherland, UNDONE and newcomers Storm and Moodie Tuesday. Dancers from the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Katherine Grange and Hayley Donnison, and violinist Miranda Adams, from the Auckland Philharmonia, delivered incredible performances for Tamsin Cooper’s collection. Stephen Jones’ finale headpiece – originally created for pop icon Kylie Minogue and featured in the 2012 London Olympic Games closing ceremony – enthralled the audience. “We’re looking really strong for our 15th anniversary,” says iD Committee Chair Susie Staley.“Part of this is looking at future international collaborations, including developing our relationship with Shanghai, which

Storm

MisteR

makes iD even more global in its outlook. It’s getting better every year and we’re excited about growing the event even further.” This year, 10 international models from the University of Shanghai Engineering Science, were part of the 60 models selected for

iD Dunedin Fashion Shows and the iD International Emerging Designer Awards. Models were also selected from Ali Mcd Aart Agency, Ican Models and Talent, and Auckland’s Clyne Model Management.Last night’s show also included

five 2012 graduates from the School of Design, Otago Polytechnic – Rakel Blom (the winner of the 2013 iD International Emerging Designer Awards), Olivia Bloxham, Samuel Ralph, Samantha O’Reilly, and Tansy Morris alongside the winners of the iD International Emerging Designer Awards.Redken, for the 12th consecutive year, took charge of the runway hair creations led by husband and wife duo Jock Robson and Sara Allsop from Auckland’s Dharma Hairdressing in Mt Eden, with a team of stylists from all over New Zealand. A Revlon sponsored makeup team, led by Aliana McDaniel, worked backstage to create three stunning runway beauty looks.

Yvonne Bennetti

Mild-Red

Stephen Jones

Carlson

GYRO GIG GUIDE14 – 24 MARCH.

Dunedin Fringe Festival, www.dunedinfringe.org.nz

20 MARCH. Paul Kelly (Aus), Knox Church, 7pm, $69

Gramatik (USA) & K+Lab, Bennu Restaurant, 9.30pm, $30

21 MARCH.Alliance Française French Film Festival 2013, Rialto (11 Moray Pl)

Jam Night, Sammys (65 Crawford St), 8pm, FreeBad Blocks (aka South City Sushi Cop), Refuel, 8pm, $5

Bond Street Bridge Explorers Club Tour, 1 Queens Gardens, 8pm, $15Nic Leedon, solo acoustic till late, Lone Star (George St)

22 MARCH.Depths, Blind Folded, Advocate, Dust (Metal), Crown Hotel (Rattray St), 9pm

Toy Destruction, A Distant City & BIKK, Taste Merchants (36 Stuart St), 8pm, $5All Whites vs New Caledonia, Forsyth Barr Stadium, $35 - students $15

Evolve, rock and pop due. Followed by Matty D till late, Lone Star (George St)

22 & 29 MARCH, 5, 12, 19 APRIL.Latin Night, Embassy Nightclub & Karoke (142 Princes St), Free

23 MARCH.Manthyng & Sexy Animals, 1 Queens Gardens, 9pm, $15 ($10 concession)

Villainy and Rival State Tour, Refuel, 8pm, $25Reverberation (Threads, Tommy Gunners, Shakes and the Swell Guys, Simple thieves), Dunedin’s

Musicians Club (12 Manse St), 8pm, $10Nick Leedon. Followed by Matty D till late, Lone Star (George St)

Dizz1 & DJ Booof, Pop Bar (14 The Octagon), 9pm, $10 or Free with your activated Radio 1 Card

24 MARCH.Freddy Fudd Pucker NZ Tour, Inch bar (8 Bank St), 7pm, Free

23, 30 MARCH 6, 13, 20, APRIL.Jazz at the Robbie - Coleman, Cornish & Craigie, Robbie Burns Pub (374 George St), 4.30pm, Free

28 MARCH.Wayne Mason and Clinton Brown, The Church (50 Dundas St), 8.30pm

29 MARCH – 1 APRIL.Gypsy Fair, The Oval, 9pm – 5pm, Free

30-31 MARCHCatlins River Festival, Owaka, Massive line-up: www.catlinsriverfestival.co.nz, $95

6 APRIL.Black Rock Coffin makers and guests, Crown Hotel, 9pm, $5

God Bows to Math, Opposite Sex & FADOHT, Chicks Hotel (2 Mount St, Port Chalmers), 9pm

7 APRIL.Sunday Sounds: Easy Listening & Reggae, Botanic Gardens, 1pm, Free

14 APRIL.Sunday Sounds: Blues Concert, Botanic Gardens, 1pm, Free

20 APRIL.Six60 Tour, Union Hall (University), 8pm, $50

Want your gig or event listed here? Contact mark [email protected]”Note: prices are a guide only due to the bizarre rank of booking fees

CONGRATULATIONS! Winner of The 2013 iD International

Emerging Designer Award:

Rakel Blom School of Design, Otago Polytechnic,

Dunedin, New Zealand.