Stakeholders in the fashion industry are all hyped up as the Fashion Council of Fiji countdown to the first ever National Designer Awards on Saturday,  November 3rd continues.

“We have had competitions, but a separate awards ceremony on its own is a first for Fiji and it is an indication of how far we have come as an industry,” said Fashion Council of Fiji chairman Faraz Ali.

The five awards to be won include; Designer of the Year, Budding Designer of the Year, Fashion Media of the Year, Textile Designer of the Year and a special Chairman’s Award which will be presented to any outstanding member of the fashion industry.

Ali said the council recognised the importance of honouring, acknowledging and celebrating the people who were taking the fashion industry forward.

“We are still deciding on members of the judging panel at the moment,”he said.

“We would like a broad spectrum of opinions including members of the fashion and garment industry and business people because the awards are not dependent on one show or on one collection alone.

“It is dependent on several factors such as business performance throughout the year, the quality of the garments, the market’s response to the products and market reach.”

He added that the criteria were drawn up by Hupfeld Hoerderm, who is one of Fiji’s most celebrated and awarded designers and Karlene Dangerfeld, the Head Fashion Trainer at the Australia-Pacific Technical College.

“We will be calling for nominations from Monday next week,” Mr Ali said.

“Since it’s the first year, nominations will be from within the council as well, but eventually we would like all nominations to be external.”

On choosing a theme for the awards, Ali said that they would like something similar to the Met Gala.

“We still have a bit of fear in the market in terms of expression,” he said.

“So our designers are sometimes limited. They cannot fully explore their creative potential because the market might not respond to it.

“So with the awards we would like to encourage our attendees to dress to the theme, to be extravagant, over the top and completely expressive.” 

Edited by Percy Kean

Feedback:  neelam.prasad@fijisun.com.fj