Cloth-design contest leads to men’s wear developments for winter 1980

Press, 22 June 1979, Page 6

Cloth-design contest leads to men’s wear developments for winter 1980

FASHION AND BEAUTY

by

Paula Ryan

Eight top men’s wear designers faced the judges in Auckland recently for New Zealand’s first national contest in the design of cloth for men’s suits, jackets and trousers. The contest, run by the Wool Board, was aimed at rewarding good design — although one of the conditions was that every entry had to be offered to garment manufacturers as

part of the mill’s normal commercial range. Mr Kevin Dynesen, of Barker Textiles, received the award at a ceremony at Trillos, in Auckland. This was the first range of men’s wear cloth he had designed. Until now his company had focused its efforts on women’s cloth. His prize was a study trip around the world to

the top style centres in Europe. Mr Dynesen's, winning entry used small neat patterns for tweedy textures in grey-brown-beige, greygreens, and grey with indigo blue. The judges stated that the winning designs were right on trend for 1980 and had fresh appeal. My Dynesen himself described designing the

top range as “panic all the way”; he had only six to seven weeks for the whole job. However, he said he had one unfair advantage. “My company sends me overseas. Many New Zealand cloth designers are expected to produce ideas by sitting at their own desks all year. That makes it hard to get a feel for new ideas.” Last year he spent 10

weeks in all overseas — “living and breathing textiles.” “You see things you’ve never seen before,” he said, “and it certainly helps your thinking. The Wool Board’s marketing manager for men’s wear, Mrs Sharyn Steit. said the contest had helped bring a real leap forward in men’s cloth. She said: “Good cloth is

basic to garment design.” For 1980, she said. "Onehunga” was launching its first men’s range for some years. “Wanganui” has its first men’s Woolmark range for several years. “Barker” is completely new to the men’s wear field. "Mosgeil” has developed new types of cloth, while “Prestige Holeproof” will be launching a new label.

So, its good news for men who want good-look-ing suits and jackets. The cloths created for the contest will be easy to identify in the stores next winter. They will carry a new “Woolmark Designer Collection” sew-in label to be launched and promoted by the Wool Board.