CAPITAL WRAP.

(From The Dominion Post)

Byline: ENTING Carolyn

Fashion writer Carolyn Enting looks back on a week of glitz and glamour on the Wellington catwalks. Pictures by Michael Ng.

TAKE a bow, Wellington - you have finally earned your place on the fashion map. After the teething problems of the past two years - difficult venues, bad shoes, terrible lighting and often frumpy, unstyled clothing - the Wellington Fashion Festival has come of age.

After attending almost every event at the third Wellington Fashion Festival, I am impressed with what I saw.

The week, which finished with the ZM Cuba Collection on Sunday, had everything offered by international fashion weeks - celebrities, glamour, goodie bags, gatecrashers, enough champagne and 42 Below vodka to drown in, fabulous frocks, loads of menswear, models that walked with a new confidence, proper show lighting and great audio visual effects. It even attracted unofficial off-schedule shows.

Sharing the front row at Friday's Peugeot Catwalk and Zsa Zsa After Dark group shows with out-of-town media - some of whom had been very scathing about earlier festivals - I was slightly nervous about how they would view the events.