FASHION DESIGN
BREAKING BARRIERS DOWN
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FASHIONING UP A CAREER writer SARA CARBERY photographer LOGAN WEST
DIHLIA TEURU is only 24 but her success in the fashion industry is testament to the wisdom of her advice to school leavers – “listen to your gut” and “take a risk”. “Sometimes it won’t work out but don’t let that get you down,” she says. Although her parents wanted her to study early childhood education, Dihlia applied for a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Fashion Design) and continued on to do Honours at Whitecliffe. “At school, I saw fashion as more of a hobby. I didn’t see it as a career option but my friends saw potential in me,” she says. “And something in my gut said, ‘You can do this’.” One year on from graduating, Dihlia has found “the perfect job” working for The Carpenter’s Daughter, a New Zealand plus-size designer brand. “Being a bigger woman myself, I wanted to work in the plus-size world,” she says. “I wanted to break barriers and take a risk.” The founder of The Carpenter’s Daughter, Caroline Marr, contacted Dihlia after seeing her plus-size
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