Margo Barton, Academic Leader (Fashion)
Margo Barton’s enthusiasm for fashion education is palpable.
A recipient of a New Zealand Tertiary Teaching Award in 2007 and currently completing a PhD, Otago Polytechnic’s Academic Leader for Fashion is passionate about establishing networks within the global fashion industry, and her students clearly benefit from that commitment—recently several were featured in Vogue Italia.
“This confirms for me that our teaching practice is relevant,” says Margo, whose students are also encouraged to undertake international exchanges (in particular to the Instituto Europeo di Design, Milan) and to think expansively about work placements.
“Each year we have students working with the likes of Kate Sylvester (Auckland), Akira (Sydney), MaterialByProduct (Melbourne), and Lutz (Paris).” In 2010, Margo was invited to join the judging panel for the Mittelmoda Awards—a prestigious international competition for emerging fashion designers. She has spent almost a decade establishing links between Mittelmoda and local equivalent iD Dunedin which is supported by the School of Design and highlights the benefits of Dunedin’s collaborative community working environment. International industry powerhouses who have attended the event include renowned ‘Princess of Punk’ Zandra Rhodes, who Margo cites as a powerful force in fashion.
“Our students learnt so much from her,” says Margo, “they see the best of their generation on their own doorstep and get to network with top industry people.”
