Twenty North Shore teenagers are taking their event management skills to the world stage as they head to NZ Fashion Weekend to run the annual Walk the Line runway fashion show on 2 September.

Walk the Line is the largest initiative of its kind run for youth by youth, and aims to give young designers aged 13 to 18 from across the country a chance to showcase their talent at New Zealand’s premiere fashion event.

The group of 20 teens from North Shore’s YMCA Raise Up youth group in Northcote is responsible for ensuring the runway show is all glamour with no glitches. Surrounded by industry pros with decades of experience working runways across the world, the teenage team is responsible for everything from lighting to stage management, and ensuring the 52 young fashion design entrants and models shine on the runway.

14 year old Maria Carbonell-Gannet from Carmel College said Walk the Line is the largest event organised by the North Shore Raise Up youth group.

“I think it’s really important that as youth we can pitch in and organise these opportunities for other teenagers and give them a chance to showcase their talent on the world stage and in front of people they may look up to.” 

For the North Shore Raise Up youth group, the show provides a valuable opportunity to develop their event management skills. Kev Carter, YMCA Raise Up’s team leader, said each year he is impressed by what the young event crew manage to organise on their own.

“The Walk the Line show takes five months to organise, and it’s impressive how the group consistently pull together a high-quality event under the spotlight of the world-class NZ Fashion Weekend. Most people in the audience would be unaware that it’s all organised and run by a group of teenagers.”

This year’s Walk the Line fashion show at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre involves 52 budding young designers showcasing their talent in the categories of high fashion, streetwear, sustainability, fantasy and open. The overall design winner will receive a scholarship to NZ Fashion Tech.   

Tickets for the 2 September show are on sale at iticket.co.nz by searching ‘YMCA’.