Christchurch gets on with the show

Charley Mann takes a look at the fashion on show at The Canterbury Runway Winter 2011 fashion show. By Daniel Tobin

NEW LINE: An Eclipse design featured in The Canterbury Runway Winter 2011 fashion show at the Addington Events Centre, in Christchurch, on Thursday night.

Civil Defence took over the runway and models fled the city after the February 22 earthquake, but Christchurch designers have proved nothing can stand in the way of fashion.

The Canterbury Runway Winter 2011 fashion show played to a packed audience at the Addington Events Centre on Thursday night.

Organiser Angela Stone said the show had been scheduled to run in the Christchurch Art Gallery in March.

It was postponed after Civil Defence and the Christchurch City Council moved into the gallery after the earthquake.

Securing models for the event had also proved difficult, with models fleeing the stricken city and agencies left in ruins.

Portfolio Models owner Mel Brown said she had had a lucky escape from her City Mall-based agency, her mobile phone the only equipment she could save.

However, Brown secured 20 models, including New Zealand’s Next Top Model runner-up, Michaela Steenkamp, to work the runway at the event.

Christchurch designers had also faced difficulties since February 22, Stone said, with some having to pull out of the show because they did not “have viable premises or access to their stores”.

Others, including Cows Go Moo designer Jo Taylor, had been forced to relocate their CBD studios.

Taylor had set up shop in Merivale, and showed the range’s winter line on Thursday night.

Eight designers, including Christchurch-based Eclipse and Gillian Melhop Studios, showcased their work.

All proceeds from the show would go to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal and the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation.

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