EIT fashion student Bex McNeur adores impeccable craftsmanship, rates quality over quantity and prefers timeless style to flash-in-the-pan fashion trends.

“I love vintage silhouettes,” she enthuses, “timeless and flattering styles using beautiful quality fabrics, clever construction techniques and fabric manipulation.”

So not surprisingly Bex’s inspiration for the Young Designer section of Hawke’s Bay Racing’s Fashion in the Field was Christian Dior’s famous 1947 New Look.

Breaking away from traditional styling, the French couturier captured world headlines with a radically new silhouette that featured rounded shoulders, cinched waists and very full skirts. 

For her race-day outfit, Bex has created a design that also celebrates her “handsome, regal, resplendent and very avant garde” pet peacock, Troy.

“I designed this avant garde project to give myself an opportunity to totally unleash my creative side and really challenge all the skills and knowledge I had plus learning and practising all the new technical skills that I’ve developed here at EIT.” 

A Certificate in Fashion Apparel student, Bex has already decided to progress to the New Zealand Diploma in Fashion, which EIT launches next year. 

When she completes her studies, she’s open to whatever opportunities come her way in the fashion industry.

Ultimately though, she would love to have her own ethical freedom fashion business, one that provides safe and fair working conditions for garment workers in some of the world’s poorer nations. 

“When women are empowered in a society,” she says, “all of that society benefits.”