What were the hottest trends to emerge from this year’s Hokonui Fashion Design Awards?  With entrants this year from around NZ, India and Australia, the show saw a key trend emerge.  Yes kids, the 80’s are back.

 

 

 

The winner of the $12,000 prize package was AUT’s Alysha Gover, with a printed slouchy knit dress (above) judge Theresa Brady described as ‘amazing up close. We all wondered how she achieved such a remarkable garment.” Other judges, Adrian Hailwood, Anjali Stewart of Twenty Seven Names, Invercargill’s own Emily Kerse and Brady were led by first time judge, Denise L’Strange Corbet.

The judges

 

So, after the awards, we can say with certainty that the eighties fashion revival has finally hit New Zealand. England has seen a revival of trends from the decade that taste forgot for quite some time now, but conservative Kiwis have been slow off the mark to follow suit. Events like the Hokonui Fashion Awards are an opportunity for design students and skilled amateurs alike to let their imagination run wild – and in 2010 – their imaginations ran straight back three decades. The era of big shoulders, saturated neon colours, leg warmers, drop-crotched pants, backcombed and big hairdos, bubble skirts, shredded fishnets, oversized jackets and metal mesh was heavily featured in submitted entries.

A key look to emerge from Hokonui was an interpretation of the shorts playsuit, which will be a hot look for this summer. Likely to be available in a variety of colours, styles and prints, playsuits look great with gladiator sandals or lace up pumps for a cute yet edgy indie look.

The leotard originally peaked during the days of disco and Fonda in the seventies, then again getting physical with Olivia Newton John and Flashdance. They were even popular in the nineties in the form of bodysuits with snapdomes in the crutch, worn with jeans as a popular nightclub ensemble. Leotards popped up in entries throughout most sections of the Hokonui awards, meaning they are likely to become another fashion staple like leggings and skinny jeans.

Finally - we've seen it before: shapeless shifts, pop art inspired bold colour blocking, geometric prints, walking cubism; but this time around, entrants left behind the paint-by-numbers flamboyance and pared back to the bare Mod style essentials. Cape coats, panel dresses, giant buttons and monochrome polka dots featured strongly and would have made Twiggy proud.

So another successful Hokonui Fashion Awards draws to a close, by heralding key looks from the past that will be hot trends for the future.

 

See more from the event at http://www.hokonuifashion.com