Although publicized at a ceremony in Auckland last night, DHL has lifted the embargo tonight to announce that Commoners has won its Fashion Export Scholarship.
In a release, Jae Mills, Commoners’ designer, said, ‘The DHL export scholarship is very important to us as we see it as an opportunity to connect internationally. We are currently focused on growing our brand in the Australian market. This will be our focus for the next one to two years.
‘We have chosen this market as our main export market as we feel a strong connect with the culture and our brand has been received really well over the past six months. Also from a logistical perspective we share the same seasons so in these early stages, production and distribution can be easily managed. Once we have the right structure within our business we can look at northern hemisphere business in the future.’
Fay Nwokobia, Head of Asia-Pacific at www.my-wardrobe.com, said, ‘The DHL Express Fashion Export Scholarship assists us in identifying new talent out of New Zealand, and we felt that the calibre of entries was outstanding. As a result, we’re interested in starting a conversation with not only Commoners, who were the worthy scholarship recipient, but also the other two finalists Blak and Meadowlark.’
The competition was judged by Margi Robertson (Nom D), John Kelly (Max Fashions), Megan Wildermoth (DHL) and Paul Blomfield (FINZ).
Robertson noted that Commoners was ‘brave. They’ve stuck to their guns in terms of their design æsthetic, which takes a lot of guts. They also have a strong, strategic marketing campaign which is very specific and reflects the clothes well.’
Commoners receives NZ$10,000 worth of international freight and a meeting with buyers from www.my-wardrobe.com. The prize also includes coaching in freight and logistics, a tailored export mentoring package, and a year’s FINZ membership.
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