ABOVE: Carla Bergs. RIGHT: Bergs’s collection at ID Dunedin Fashion Week.

INCE we began covering ID Dunedin Fashion Week, we’ve spoken to new labels getting nurtured at the Fashion Incubator become established ones the following year. In the spirit of collegial respect, they are promoted by bigger names, who understand that everyone has a right to pursue their passion. In short, we like Dunedin.
   It’s probably easier to start up a label there than anywhere else in the world, thanks to a population willing to try new things. It makes total sense to have Dunedin host an emerging designers’ show. The Octagon—the city’s centre—was shut while a marquée was erected to house the show. By the end of the evening, we were asking organizers why the Vodafone ID Dunedin Emerging Designers’ Awards could not take place over two nights and be a greater international event.
   Graduates from Otago Polytechnic were joined by those from AUT, the Whitehouse Institute of Design, RMIT and the Queensland University of Technology. But we foresee it being truly international rather than trans-Tasman: why not, some day, have Mittelmoda, FIT, Parson’s, NIFT and Central St Martin’s involved?
   What we saw that evening was more impressive than the work of many established designers. Our top picks were the Queenslanders, who seem to have thrived being away from Australia’s usual fashion centres in Melbourne and Sydney. Carla Bergs’s collection, the Picnic Exodus, took home the first prize—unsurprisingly. A hood containing three baguettes became a make-shift picnic blanket; becoming the model’s parachute as she ran down the catwalk. A belt with multiple pockets could be carried as a bag. There is no exaggeration, no giving of a false hope, when we say that Bergs’s collection was one of the best we had seen on any catwalk anywhere, regardless of how long the designer had been in business.
   Lucire was the first to interview Bergs after her victory. ‘I’m overwhelmed. All the judges were gushing. It’s so nice,’ she said in her gentle Australian voice, still with some disbelief.
   The philosophy behind Bergs’s designs is one of entertaining others, so it appears that karma is returning a favour. ‘I like to make people smile. Fashion can bring humour and flamboyance. I like to play it up. Too much of fashion takes itself too seriously.
   ‘Life is to be enjoyed. The world is to be enjoyed.’
   Bergs is a designer who wishes to bring meaning into fashion. She steers away from appropriating ideas and wishes her work to be accessible, even to those who may not be fashionistas. To do that, her work is both sculptural and wearable.
   The same playful voice comes into her designing. The Picnic Exodus was meant to bring a ‘pastural, outdoor feel. Liberation is a recurring theme.’
   She admits that a lot of thought went into her collection’s concept. ‘It’s liberating in Brisbane in summer. I did not want it to be too serious. I wanted it to be fresh.’ To her, the picnic was the perfect metaphor: ‘[it’s about] simple pleasures and freedom. You pack your own meal—it’s anti-consumerist.’
   This ties in to Bergs’s ideas about a ‘harmless, playful rebellion.’ She sees consumerism as leading to conservative design, as designers play things safe to appeal to a broad base. By being rebellious, fashion can confront people more, which may initially seem contradictory to her thoughts about accessibility. But witnessing her work on the catwalk shows that a happy medium can be found: Bergs will do well because she produces work that surprises, yet can be worn by even the less adventurous.
   She describes the look as being a slicker and sexier ‘hippie look’, turning her gingham and rose prints into something more desirable, elevating humble fabrics.
   ‘I care about shapes. I don’t like literal things,’ she said.
   For Bergs, Paris is a medium-term dream. It is not unattainable: her father is Dutch, so her plan is to venture to Europe with a Dutch passport. ‘It’s important to get exposed to different cultures. It’s part of the dialogue.’
   We suggested to Bergs that she get used to being interviewed, as it’s a total certainty her name will emerge often in the media in years to come. •

Jack Yan is founding publisher of Lucire.