For Minka, it will be a return to the stage as her designs have scooped up awards at two Walk The Line shows already, the High Fashion category title in 2023 and the overall Supreme Designer of the Year in 2025.<\/p>\n
Minka told the Waikato Herald she had a love for fashion from a young age and it runs in the family as her mum is a seamstress.<\/p>\n
Despite growing up around fashion, she never expected to win awards for her creations.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people have really good designs,\u201d Minka said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely put in a lot of effort last year, so I was hoping and praying for [a win].\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she was proud to be a finalist again. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited. Even if I don\u2019t win, it\u2019s a fun experience, and you get to meet a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minka\u2019s 2026 design features a corset and skirt, similar to last year\u2019s, but this time made from curtain fabric, a material she\u2019s never used before.<\/p>\n
While she\u2019s ready for the challenge, Minka said her biggest goal is creating a garment she\u2019s proud of.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if I don\u2019t win, and I like my dress, I\u2019ll be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minka Parker (left) and Brenna Easthope-Gay in their designs at New Zealand Fashion Week 2025. <\/p>\n
Like Minka, Brenna discovered her love of fashion at a young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was younger, I liked sewing, and my parents got me a sewing machine pretty young,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cFrom then, I just morphed my way through fashion and just decided I wanted to start creating [more].\u201d <\/p>\n
After the pair became friends, Brenna said Minka encouraged her to enter the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just both decided to do it together … we\u2019re like best friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year is Brenna\u2019s second year competing, though it\u2019s the first time her design is a finalist.<\/p>\n
Last year, she was recognised for having the strongest concept, an animal-inspired design with feathers and a wing. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s [design] is more inspired by a feeling that people get,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Brenna Easthope-Gay (left) and Minka Parker support each other for New Zealand Fashion Week. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar <\/p>\n
Her design includes diamantes, which she said will be time-consuming to put on the garment, but it\u2019s a \u201cbig step forward\u201d for her. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast year, I decided to go with something more safe because it was my first time, but this year I\u2019m going very out there and exploring that freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the pair will compete in the same category, neither sees the other as a rival and they provide support for each other. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re just looking forward to being able to be with each other,\u201d Brenna said.<\/p>\n
Minka said she\u2019d be proud if Brenna won. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think you should compete with yourself and not with other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018High-level designers\u2019<\/p>\n
Hamilton Girls\u2019 High School textiles teacher Angela Tremayne said she was proud of her students for being finalists this year. <\/p>\n
Tremayne said textiles was a \u201ccomplex\u201d subject requiring critical thinking, and she believed the pair had spent the past few years \u201cmastering\u201d that skill. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese two have such potential to go places, like I can see them going further if that is their desire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The teen finalists with their textiles teacher Angela Tremayne. Photo \/ Malisha Kumar <\/p>\n
She said the girls entered the competition and created their designs without her help. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where my pride is, because it\u2019s showing their independence, their integrity, their direction and their passion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tremayne got emotional talking about how much the girls had improved in her class. <\/p>\n
She said she could tell almost straight away that Minka had \u201cthat spark\u201d and Brenna\u2019s spark has been \u201cgrowing and growing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when they get noticed, that is huge for the rest of us in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tremayne wasn\u2019t surprised when she heard the two girls were finalists \u2013 \u201cI actually almost expected it\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said teachers often naturally became mentors and built relationships. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou mother them a little bit, but you also have this protective side as well that you look after them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tremayne believes the pair will be the \u201cnext generation of high-level designers\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to see them doing their thing and feeling really proud of what they\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n
New Zealand Fashion Week executive director Liam Taylor said Walk the Line was one of the most anticipated youth showcases on the fashion calendar.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year we\u2019re blown away by the originality, energy and fresh perspectives these young people bring to the runway,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
Walk the Line is presented by Raise Up, the youth development programme of The Y (formerly YMCA).<\/p>\n
Finalists from around New Zealand compete across five categories: high fashion, streetwear, avant-garde, cultural fashion and a theme category, which is enchanted Earth this year.<\/p>\n
One young creative will also win the overall Supreme Designer of the Year award.<\/p>\n
Walk the Line takes place on August 22 at Shed 10, Auckland. <\/p>\n
New Zealand Fashion Week runs from August 17-22.<\/p>\n
Among the other Waikato designers included in the wider fashion week is Adrian Williams, of Whitianga-based Adrion Atelier.<\/p>\n
Adrion Atelier will showcase its collection as part of The Studio event on August 19.<\/p>\n
Curated by fashion week creative director Dan Ahwa, The Studio will showcase some of the best contemporary designers shaping the next chapter of New Zealand fashion, reflecting a considered, evolving, and purposeful offering.<\/p>\n
On social media, Adrion Atelier said it was honoured to be returning to fashion week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis collection is a reminder that making never exists in isolation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is shaped by communities, shared knowledge, and the hands that continue to preserve traditions often overlooked in an increasingly fast-moving industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malisha Kumar is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined the Waikato Herald in 2023 after working for Radio 1XX in Whakat\u0101ne.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Minka, it will be a return to the stage as her designs have scooped up awards at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11111,539,156,1438,2082,71,4486,117,111,139,69,13084,34592,1447,5163,1961,1524,686,80],"class_list":["post-561235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-designers","tag-emerging","tag-entertainment","tag-fashion","tag-for","tag-from","tag-month","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-prepare","tag-ready","tag-runway","tag-teen","tag-this","tag-waikato","tag-week","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}