Hamilton girl wins big in wearable arts competition
A St Andrew’s Middle School student won a wearable art fashion show in Huntly with her garment made entirely from recycled goods, beating adults and other students from the Waikato region.
A St Andrew’s Middle School student has beaten experienced adult designers to win a wearable art fashion show in Huntly with her garment made entirely from recycled goods.
Imogen Green is the first scholar to win the Huntly Artz and Design Festival, which has been running since 1999, beating adults as well as other students in the Waikato region.
The 13-year-old designed and created a dress, Sawn-der-ful, made out of Pak ‘n Save plastic cups, shampoo bottles and bubble wrap.
Her inspiration for the garment derived from her love and hate of swans which, she says, scare her but are still elegant.
“Every time I go to a zoo, swans seem to hiss at me.”
Imogen cut hundreds of cups, which her granddad collected while working at Pak ‘n Save, into feather-like pieces that covered the whole dress and created colourful shows out of shampoo bottles. She has been working on the garment since term one and has scars on her hands to show from all the cutting.
When she won, Imogen could not believe it.
“I was so excited. I kept ringing all my friends telling them I had won.”
Imogen’s Textiles Technology teacher Amy Jansen-Leen, who had previously worked as a costume coordinator in the national World
of Wearable Arts competition, said that having one of her students win had been the highlight of the beginning of her career.
The bi-annual Huntly festival showcased Imogen’s outfit in the Bold and Beautiful section.Winning her section, she received a $500 prize plus the supreme award of $3000.
Instead of going on a shopping spree, Imogen decided to use her money to further her education and hopes to one day be a fashion designer.
