16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
‘Crazy' to win Shakespeare dress award
Bayfield High School German exchange student Janne Olimsky with her costume design yesterday. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
A young dressmaker impressed judges at a Shakespeare festival with her transformable Victorian design.
Bayfield High School German exchange student Janne Olimsky, 16, said it was "crazy" to win a commended award for the costume design competition at the Shakespeare Globe Centre New Zealand Festival this year.
When she found out, she started jumping with joy.
She said there were not many opportunities to enter similar competitions back home and it was awesome to have had the opportunity in New Zealand, she said.
The dress she designed was a transformable two-in-one costume to be worn by Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.
The actress playing the part of Juliet could open her belt and bow on stage and turn the first version of the outfit into a wedding dress on stage when Romeo proposed to her.
"That's like a special effect."
Janne got into fashion design during a Covid-19 lockdown.
"My grandma had an old sewing machine and she gave it to me and said 'Do whatever you want to do'."
She started by making bags, skirts and pants and ended up making her dress for her school formal.
Janne was keen to become a designer and was in the process of making a design for the Hokonui Fashion Awards.
Otago was well represented at the festival.
Trinity Catholic College student Ariel Holloway is a finalist in the essay competition and Columba College student Elaine Li received a highly commended award for the static image competition.
Groups from Trinity and John McGlashan Colleges will travel to Wellington to perform scenes from Love's Labour's Lost and Taming of the Shrew respectively.
