The three finalist for the DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship came together on Tuesday night for the final announcement of the winner.  With my favourite jewellery designers Meadowlark, Topshop-stocked label BLAK and Commoners with their luxury basics in the running for the prize of $10,000 worth of freighting with DHL, and also an incredibly important ‘could-be-life-changing’ introduction to international luxury online retailer www.my-wardrobe.com as well, anticipation ran high.

Commoners  (www.commoners.co.nz) were the winner of the main prize but the judging was obviously so tight, that the judges decided to not award a third place, but rather have two second place getters. Both BLAK and Meadowlark will receive $1000 worth of freighting from DHL, but more importantly all three finalists will be meeting the team at www.my-wardrobe.com as they were so impressed with the calibre of the finalists they indicated interest in meeting with them all.

Fay Nwokobia, Head of Asia-Pacific at www.my-wardrobe.com, says: “The DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship assists us in identifying new talent out of New Zealand, and we felt that the calibre of entries was outstanding. As a result, we’re interested in starting a conversation with not only Commoners, who were the worthy scholarship recipient, but also the other two finalists BLAK and Meadowlark.”

Jae Mills from Commoners says: “The DHL export scholarship is very important to us as we see it as an opportunity to connect internationally. We are currently focused on growing our brand in the Australian market. This will be our focus for the next 1-2 years. “We have chosen this market as our main export market as we feel a strong connect with the culture and our brand has been received really well over the past 6 months. Also from a logistical perspective we share the same seasons so in these early stages production and distribution can be easily managed. Once we have the right structure within our business we can look at Northern hemisphere business in the future.”

Iconic fashion designer and scholarship judge Margi Robertson of NOM*D and Plume says: “Commoners are brave. They’ve stuck to their guns in terms of their design aesthetic, which takes a lot of guts. They also have a strong, strategic marketing campaign which is very specific and reflects the clothes well.”

The evening was filled with beautifully styled models (special mention must go to Meadowlark for their three beautiful models who were beautifully styled) with hair by Lauren Gunn for Steven Marr, and makeup by Keikie Stanners for M.A.C. at new eatery TomTom in Victoria Park Market. It was a veritable who’s who of New Zealand fashion with Doris De Pont (in beautiful yellow high heels) and her partner Theo arriving in style having cycled to the venue.

And just in a Proud Mother moment, The Daughter modelled for Commoners, just in case you don’t see from the photos.

Photographs as always by the Lovely Michelle Weir

Title photograph by Sam Lee

Commoners

BLAK

Meadowlark