Christopher Toailoa

“The colour that was assigned to me is Resene Good To Go, which is a vibrant, radiant shade of green and was used as my key source of inspiration. Though I was initially nervous with my assigned colour, I learned to appreciate and admire it more upon further brainstorming and research, which coincidentally enough also represents my assigned colour, as green represents growth and progression. I interpreted my colour’s name Resene Good To Go as being ready to progress, being free spirited and letting go to move forward and I have incorporated that into my design concept.

I approached the given brief of 'Imagine the Possibilities' by reaching into my childhood dreams and imagination.

I was a very feminine child and loved all things feminine and I always imagined making beautiful dresses and dreamed of growing up to be a dressmaker, but my dreams were discouraged because they were deemed too 'feminine' and as a Polynesian male, it was considered 'distasteful' to be a feminine male because in the eyes of many people, femininity equalled weakness. However, that taught me to appreciate femininity to its fullest. I was surrounded by beautiful strong women who embraced their femininity and proved that strength and femininity didn't have to be opposing qualities and that they could go hand in hand as one.

With that in mind, I decided to make the central theme of my concept and design the parallel between Nature and Femininity and their duality. It is no coincidence that Nature is often personified as a female figure. Mother Nature or Mother Earth are very common caricatures used by people to give a persona to what we know as Nature and are used as such because women and nature have so much in common in terms of their duality. They both have the divine ability to create life. Both can be beautiful, fragile and soft as well as being harsh, unforgiving and strong at the same time. I also decided to draw inspiration from strong women in New Zealand history. I was influenced by the knowledge that New Zealand was the first country in history to give women the right to vote in 1892 and took ideas and inspiration from women's wear of 1892 and what the Women Suffragettes wore to protest for their rights. Another big source of inspiration for my design is my mother who is the strongest woman I know and therefore I'd be a fool to not use her as my muse. As someone of Polynesian descent, I also took inspiration from Polynesian art and myths and legends involving strong, powerful women and traditional Samoan attire, as well as Māori myths and legends.

My design features a structured corset style bodice that is reminiscent of armour to show strength with puff off the shoulder sleeves and a flowy draped skirt to show softness and fragility. The designs principles I have used to convey my design concept are pattern, with the stitching on the bodice reflecting the patterns and shapes on leaves, and proportion, with the large puff sleeves that mirror flexed biceps to further play into the idea of strength. The design elements I have used in my design are texture, used on the bodice, sleeves and skirt in various forms, as well as repetition with the constant use of nature motifs throughout the look.

In its purest form, my design is meant as a love letter to the strong, feminine women in my life who showed me that there is strength in femininity, as well as a love letter to my younger self, because the things that were once mere figments of my dreams and imaginations, have now become a reality.”

Resene Whitecliffe Colour of Fashion clothing - 2024

Photography by Natasha Boshkovski Photography

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