by Johanna Osborne

Wellington designer Sophie Voon has been a mainstay on the ‘who’s who’ of hottest NZ designers for some time. Her passion began early, and as a child Sophie’s favourite past time was to design dresses for her dolls. So it really comes as no surprise that Sophie grew up to study fashion design and open her own store.

Some pretty big things have happened for this modest local girl over the years, with both her Willis Street based clothing store Voon and the adjacent Voon Bridal Boutiques enjoying enormous success and receiving a following that other young designers can only dream of. To say Wellington is proud of Sophie and her talent is an understatement. And that’s why we join her in celebrating this latest piece of good news. Check out the press release below! And of course, don’t forget to tune into Sunday’s (24th February) Oscars to see if you can catch a glimpse of Sophie’s gorgeous designs!

PRESS RELEASE: Sophie Voon designs at the Oscars- Wellington Designer becoming a red carpet favourite

Wellington, Feb 18, 2013
(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

It’s awards season again and Wellington designer Sophie Voon is cementing her place as the ‘go-to lady’ for red carpet fashion in New Zealand. Sophie’s gorgeous dresses will be worn at the Oscars this coming Saturday and were also worn at the BAFTA’s last week.

Wellington’s booming film industry has fallen in love with Sophie Voon gowns which were also selected by ladies to be worn at the Oscars and at the premier of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey last year. Her glamorous style has seen her become a favourite for party-goers desiring the perfect look for major industry events.

“We are loving this new aspect to our business.” says Sophie. ” It feels really special to be involved in such exciting occasions and the fact that we have been dressing people involved with locally made films makes it all the more satisfying for us. I think the people that come to us also enjoy wearing NZ fashion and show casing it to the world.”

Sophie will be dressing three lades this year. Katherine Hurst will be attending the Oscars in a show stopping turquoise lace gown. Jennifer Loughan is wearing a stunning floor length red number and Jenny Bloomfield will be wearing two different Sophie Voon creations at a pre-Oscar day event and the Oscar awards. She also wore a Sophie Voon gown at the BAFTA awards last week.

Katherine will be accompanying her partner Martin Hill, a Visual Effects Supervisor at Weta Digital, who is nominated for his work on Prometheus. Jenny will be going with husband Chris White, also a Visual Effects Supervisor from Weta Digital, who is nominated for his work on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

A close up of one of the gorgeous gowns

Sophie putting the finishing touches on the beautiful red gown

Both ladies holding their 4 month old babies - the contrast between everyday life and the glamour of going to the Oscars!