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Oliver's dress impresses Florence
26.10.10
A FIRST year fashion
student from Inishowen beat off stiff global
competition to make it to the top five in a
competition to design a dress for Florence Welch of
hit band, Florence and the Machine.
Nineteen-year old Oliver Doherty's design was
whittled down from a whopping 1,500 international
entries to join five other finalists including
professional and amateur designers from Britain, the
US and China.
Flame-haired Florence had offered designers around
the world the chance to design a bespoke stage dress
for her upcoming performance at Terminal 5 in New
York on November 5. Oliver's was the only Irish
entry to make it to the final stages of the
competition.
Florence-fan Oliver, from Ballyharry, near Culdaff
on the Inishowen peninsula, is in his first year of
a Higher National Diploma in Textiles at the North
West Regional College in Derry.
"I did a lot of research into what (Florence) wears
on stage and I discovered that black was her
favourite colour and that she is interested in
Grecian styling. I also wanted to bring my own
influence to the design. I work a lot with
structured pieces, so that inspired me to create my
design, he said. |
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Oliver Doherty, from Ballyharry, with
his dress design for Florence Welch. |
The teenager said he
was stunned when his flowing creation - a black
dress with embroidered and chiffon detail - was
first voted 50th in an online poll of the best 120
sketches.
He was then informed that his design had been
selected for the judge's choice, making it one of
only six in the running for the coveted overall
prize. He then had to submit additional sketches to
help retro queen Florence and her judging panel make
their final decision.
Oliver received a call on Thursday from Florence and
the Machine stylist, Aldene Johnson, who told him
the singer was impressed with his work and that he
had finished in the top five. As a top-five
finalist, his design will now be showcased in a
number of US magazines.
Its all so surreal. I am still in shock that I
ever got this far and I'm so grateful to the art and
design staff at the college who guided me to follow
my interest in textiles last year and on my current
course," he added. He is currently working on a
collection for a fashion show in Galway next year at
which he will be one of only two student designers
among professionals.
North West Regional College textiles lecturer, Mary
Harrigan, said: "Oliver is a very talented student.
He is well deserving of this recognition, as he
works very hard. The overall competition was won by
London-based Cristina Adami. |
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