Age no boundary at New Zealand's longest standing design awards

Talented young designer seven-year-old Torenzo Monopoli of Nelson is excited at the prospect of competing at the prestigious Hokonui Fashion Design Awards this year.
 
Torenzo lives with Autism and began drafting designs at the age of five. His father Jason is amazed at his son’s designs.

“We never envisaged Torenzo being interested in fashion design,” said Mr Monopoli.

“However he began drawing people with clothes and started churning out his designs, all for women and with a burlesque theme often featuring feathers and bright colours.”

Through the efforts of Leah Evans, the founder of Project KPH - Kids Pursuing Hope*, Torenzo recently met renowned fashion designer and business-woman Annah Stretton, which  led to Torenzo launching his project by spending a day with the Waikato-based designer.

Hokonui Fashion Design Awards convenor Heather Paterson said she was thrilled to receive Torenzo’s entry and was delighted he would be attending the awards along with members of his family and the Project KPH team.

Torenzo has already experienced success at another fashion competition, the Nouveau Design Awards in Nelson, where he took out the under-10 category.

“Now that we have Secondary Schools sections as an integral part of the Hokonui Awards, I look forward to seeing Torenzo’s design and to seeing how he fares,” said Mrs Paterson.

The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards have been running since 1988 and are now firmly established as a key event on the national fashion calendar.  The awards offer a competitive platform for all amateur designers to display their designs before a panel of high-profile judges.

Secondary School design entries and late entries for the Hokonui Fashion Design Awards close tomorrow (June 6). Garments are due for submission on June 22.

The Hokonui Fashion Design Awards will be held in Gore on July 27 and 28 2012.  For more information about the awards visit www.hokonuifashion.co.nz

*Project KPH is a Registered Charitable Trust which enables young people living with terminal illness, disease, disability, and/or other special conditions to experience the rewards of realising their talents and dreams through unique projects that fit their passion and interests. The project is aimed at young people aged between 7 – 17 years. For more information go to www.projectkph.co.nz