Gateway to Japanese fashion industry opens for graduate designers

Gateway to Japanese fashion industry opens for graduate designers

UTS Fashion and Textiles Design graduate and part-time staff member Donna Sgro is in very select company. Hers is among only three emerging fashion brands from outside Japan to be invited to exhibit at Japan Fashion Week next March.

With the recommendation of Course Director Fashion and Textiles, Alison Gwilt, the 2007 graduate has been selected from 52 applications from 34 countries for the Shinmai Creator's Project, developed to provide emerging designers with the opportunity to develop a business in Japan.

The group of five for 2009 includes two designers from Japan, one from New York and a French/Swiss design partnership.

Shinmai means "fresh rice" – a metaphor for young talent that is full of potential. The prize will cover all costs associated with freighting and presenting a 20 piece collection on the Japan Fashion Week catwalks, including air travel and one million yen to spend on fabrics.

The Fashion Week organisation will also sponsor business exhibitions and meetings for the "fresh rice" designers.

Part of that job is already done for Donna: Tokyo's big Isetan department store, which has branches throughout Japan and East Asia, will display the Shinmai Creator’s Project ranges during June.

"It's an amazing opportunity to work in Japan at this stage of my career," Donna said. "The Japan Fashion Week Organisation is being really clever in supporting up-and-coming designers.

"They are trying to open up their market and position themselves as the fashion centre of Asia, and part of that is making Fashion Week in Tokyo a truly international and influential event."

Donna has had a good start to setting up her own label, jointly winning with Bonnie Rozorio the $10,000 NSW Business Council Fashion and Textile Award in her final year and showing in Australian Fashion Week last year, but the latest success can help her break the international barrier.

"It's a fairly small pond in Australia," she said. "It can be tough for designers who are slightly left of field to get much attention. Recognition here also depends on international recognition."

For Japan Fashion Week Donna is working on a collection inspired by the bizarre and otherworldly creatures of the deep oceans, some of which look like they could have been dreamed up by Japan's manga artists. If it catches the Japanese imagination, her next challenge will be meeting demand.

"I'm already doing some planning and research about what help I can get to expand the business if the orders do start rolling in," she said.

In the meantime Donna is supervising current final-year students in the preparation of their textiles projects, work that will be on display in DESIGN 08, the UTS Graduate Design Show, opening on Tuesday 2 December.

Source:http://www.newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/detail.cfm?ItemId=13472