A young student has proved that the best way to deal with depression is to divert energies towards positive thinking and creativity.
Massey University College of Creative Arts student Marie Kelly won the ‘Mittelmoda Award,’ the top prize at the ID International Emerging Designer Awards Presentation Ceremony held in Dunedin on April 7.
As well as receiving $600 contribution from Haier, a leading White Ware manufacturer, she qualified to enter the Mittelmoda Fashion competition scheduled to be held on July 1 at Gorizia, Italy.
The judging panel said that the 22-year-old student from Napier, who graduates this month, “showed in her collection a European influence, had enormous character, and truly reflected her inspiration based on her experience with depression.”
Ms Kelly said she designed four different garments for men and women to reflect the four stages of her two-year battle with depression.
“These were four levels of severity, going from simply having a bad day, closing yourself off to friends and family, experiencing a persistent suffocating feeling and finally, experiencing the sensation of drowning.
“One technique used allows the fabric to expand and create a rippling effect which reflects my fear of water,” she said.
Mittelmoda Fashion Award Project Supervisor Stefano Sopelza said all competing designers incorporated their artistic roots as artists, illustrators and photographers into their work.
“Ms Kelly created outstanding designs,” he said.
“All the models exhibiting their clothing wore black and had their faces covered. This was symbolic of people with depression who did not feel they have a voice. Many find it hard to grasp the concept of depression and creating something visually simplifies it for them.”
Now in its seventh year, the ID International Emerging Designer Awards 2011 attracted 120 entries from 20 countries. The only fashion competition of its kind in New Zealand, it offers an international platform for rising national and international fashion design talent.
