A proud Indian from God’s own land – Kerala – is taking her passion for fashion to the next level. Raishal Harrison is among 16 talented fashion designers whose silk showstoppers will open three shows at New Zealand Fashion Week to be held from August 28 to September 3 at ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland.
In four years of being in New Zealand, Ms Harrison has fallen in love with the people, the culture and the beauty of New Zealand. And her fascination for the vibrant colours brought her closer to her dream.
“I came across a campus show that featured design students and their life in fashion school. I was fascinated by the colour palettes, illustrations, patterns, and the fabric choices the students made and was completely hooked on to the idea of becoming a fashion designer in the future,” Ms Harrison revealed.
The Manukau-based full-time fashion student hopes to work in the fashion industry soon. Her design in Resene Limerick – a silk genius is the first step along that path which has been chosen to open the Resene Designer Runway in three public shows at New Zealand’s pinnacle fashion event, for which tickets are on sale now at iTicket.
Eighty metres of glistening silk in 16 Resene colours will emerge in the form of world-class fashion finery, giving New Zealand’s newest fashion design talent a chance to make an earlier-than-usual career debut.
Stage lights will bring brilliance and sparkle to their looks as each show opens. Thousands of fashion-savvy eyes and hundreds of cameras will capture the moment.
Raishal's show-stopper silk designer outfit (Photo: supplied)
Ms Harrison says that being an Indian fashion designer in NZ, the two cultures majorly influence her work.
“Auckland is all about street fashion but here they don't take the risk of playing it with bold colours. Whereas India loves its electric colours and prints. As a designer, I want to incorporate both the west and the south Asian influence into high fashion streetwear,” she said.
However, Ms Harrison’s most profound fashion influence is her homeland India. “It’s the land of colours, culture, festivals, prints, textiles and mostly utter chaos. My goal is to be a designer with purpose, providing work for women and contributing to the education of children.”
In her own words, “a vivid dreamer who is finally taking baby steps into making my dreams a reality with God Almighty besides me as my rock.” Ms Harrison plans to eventually start her own streetwear label both in New Zealand and India.
From a total of 36 diploma students studying at NZ Fashion Tech campuses in Auckland and Wellington, 15 were selected to travel and study in India for six weeks with Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia on July, 16 were selected to show their work at New Zealand Fashion Week in August, and seven achieved both.
This is the fourth consecutive year Resene has joined with the New Zealand Institute of Fashion Technology (NZ Fashion Tech) in this unique education-meets-colour collaboration, staged every year in the lead-up to Fashion Week.
A winner will be chosen by the judges to receive a special Resene prize, which includes tickets to high-end Fashion Week shows and a custom-made Tailor’s Form, an essential tool-of-trade for a fashion designer.
The winner will be revealed the week before Fashion Week.