The big buzz in Auckland right now is around Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Four days of catwalk shows, air kissing and people watching. It's an annual showcase of the best designer threads, jewellery & accessories from Aotearoa, which I rate as some of the most creative I have seen in my years of travelling. It's far less of a circus here than overseas, where many of the Stylesetters and Fashpack look like they have raided the leftovers of a jumble sale. Thankfully New Zealand is far enough away from the maddening crowds of trend followers, for our designers to come up with clothes that you can actually wear in Real Life. The big buzz in Auckland right now is around Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Four days of catwalk shows, air kissing and people watching. It's an annual showcase of the best designer threads, jewellery & accessories from Aotearoa, which I rate as some of the most creative I have seen in my years of travelling. It's far less of a circus here than overseas, where many of the Stylesetters and Fashpack look like they have raided the leftovers of a jumble sale. Thankfully New Zealand is far enough away from the maddening crowds of trend followers, for our designers to come up with clothes that you can actually wear in Real Life.Red carpet frocks and skyscraper heels just don't cut it in the bush, on the slopes or at the beach in New Zealand. I run around barefoot for most of the year, but I was a shoe addict when I lived in Europe.

The official Air New Zealand Fashion Week site this year has Fashion Desktop TV, where you can watch the highlights from the shows while eating chocolate. Anna Fitzpatrick host of The Seen on Alt TV is also reporting on highlights from the catwalks each night at 9 p.m. Anna is the perfect person to front New Zealand's first fashion TV show, as she has been modelling since she was fourteen for luminaries such as Christian Dior. She is one of the most stunningly beautiful women I have ever seen, having lost all her hair to alopecia when she was a seven years old. Runway Reporter has images from this year's Kiwi catwalk shows, and Zeroland has a comprehensive list of other New Zealand & International Fashion sites. To keep up to date with styles overseas Lucire is a global fashion magazine published out of Wellington.

Fashion Showroom sells pictures of runway fashion shows and gives you a global view on the key trends on catwalks worldwide. Personally I prefer to see what real people are wearing, and FRUiTS Magazine launched in Japan in 1997, was one of the first to lead the Street Style trend. I love visiting Japanese Streets for pictures of kids on the streeets around Harajuku in Tokyo, made famous by the bright young things who congregate there to show off their theatrical and often self made outfits.

In How to Dress Harajuku Style WikiHow explains " In Harajuku, mixing different styles and mismatching colors and
patterns is encouraged--you can do anything you want, as long as your
outfit is a thoughtful expression of your individuality." The Style Scout is full of London Street Fashion, and Toronto Street Fashion is pictures of hipsters from the cultural capital of Canada. Street Peeper has street style hunters out snapping the cool kids on the streets from Amsterdam to Zurich. The Sartorialist blog with snaps of the hipsters in New York City has even been voted as one of the Top 100 Design Influencers by Time Magazine.

If you are already crafting your own creations then congratulations - you are bang on trend. You can sell your work online through Endemic World, Toggler or Etsy and my Designer Re-Fashion column has links for people who have taken the Buy Handmade Pledge. Even if you think that you have no design skills at all, why not try making something unique like a piece of jewellery or even furniture with the easy to use design & manufacturing system from Ponoko?

Ponoko are leading the world with their simplified design & manufacture system. Ponoko provide budding designers with a starter kit to help them design
and produce items using laser cutters & 3D printers. When you buy an item the designer buys the parts from Ponoko then sends them to you. If this still seems too complicated then why not try the new Ponoko ID scheme, which will match you with a designer that can help you make your idea even if it's just a doodle on a napkin.

Another cutting edge idea that was Made in New Zealand.

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Fashion Week Feature

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As well as being TBI's strategist & columnist, MsBehaviour is Producer & Presenter of the g33k show, Fridays, 8 pm on Alt TV. She is also Managing Directrix of Mohawk Media, which produces internet TV, 3D Animation & Machinima.

18/09/08