Massey PhD candidate's indigenised garment collection takes top fashion prize

Massey University PhD candidate Erana Kaa has won the Friends of the Dowse Fashion Design award at the 31st ECC NZ Student Craft/Design Awards, the national awards for New Zealand tertiary students in the areas of design and craft.

Kaa's entry, Te Kākahu ō Te Kaikaranga, is a garment collection employing an indigenised approach to construction, based on Māori visual language that enhances the role of kaikaranga (the woman, or women, who has the role of making the ceremonial call to visitors onto a marae, or equivalent venue, at the start of a pōwhiri or tangihanga).

The judges said, "All the layers of the design including the story, the construction, the shape and the movement is what demonstrates a successful approach to her design through the use of Māori visual language. This is a very poetic collection with a blend of mainstream and traditional influences.”

Erana Kaa is in her second year of PhD candidacy at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts. Her research intends to build on the indigenisation of mainstream apparel by navigating between te ao Māori and commercial construction. 

Fellow Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts students, industrial design majors Lucy Grunfeld and Saskia Jamieson won the ECC Product Design award for their project Shape Shifter, a children's modular building toy made out of sustainable materials with interlocking pieces to inspire creativity and develop fine motor skills.

The judges for the awards this year were Karl Chitham, director of The Dowse Art Museum, Anita Dykes, lighting design consultant at ECC, Ian Douglas of The Village Goldsmith, Marilou Dadat, head designer of Kowtow, Richard Cutfield, director of Formway and Goodnature, Neke Moa, artist and designer, and Toby Morris, illustrator.

The ECC NZ Student Craft/Design Awards is in its 31st year and is open to all students who are currently enrolled to study in 2020 or who have completed their studies in 2019. The awards has been supported by The Friends of The Dowse since 1986 to offer New Zealand tertiary students an award scheme designed to encourage innovation and creativity specifically in the areas of design and craft.

Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts award recipients

Friends of the Dowse Fashion Award
Winner—Erana Kaa, PhD candidate

ECC Product Design Award
Winner—Lucy Grunfeld and Saskia Jamieson, Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design
Highly Commended—Rik Olthuis, Bachelor of Design with Honours in Industrial Design

Tuatara Ceramics Award
Highly Commended—Zoe Lovell-Smith, Bachelor of Design with Honours in Industrial Design

ECC Furniture Design Award
Highly Commended—Ameka Weston, Charis Teal, Victoria Peploe, Bachelor of Design with Honours students

Friends of the Dowse Visual Illustration Design Award
Highly Commended—Morghan Harper, Bachelor of Design with Honours in Visual Communication Design

ECC Lighting Design Award
Highly Commended—Daniel Shorrock, Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design
Highly Commended—Hannah Reid, Bachelor of Design in Industrial Design

Friends of the Dowse Surface Design Award
Highly Commended—Sophie Parsons, Bachelor of Design with Honours in Textile Design

L'Affare Innovation in Sustainability Award
Highly Commended—Rik Olthuis, Bachelor of Design with Honours in Industrial Design