LASH INDUSTRY AWARDS 2025
we are proud to announce our
2025 LASH INDUSTRY AWARD WINNERS
ONLINE COMPETITION WINNERS
CREATIVE LASH ART
WINNER
ZOE GIFFIN-HASKELL
SUBLEVO
WHANGAREI
When thinking of this year’s theme, “Runway: Avant-Garde Lash Fashion” I didn’t think of bright colours or extravagant embellishments. My mind immediately went to form, shape, and bold silhouettes. For me, high fashion isn’t about colour first, t’s about structure, texture, and shape. That’s why I chose to take a risk with a monochrome black set for my creative lash art entry. creating contrast and visual interest without relying on colour but instead using form, texture, and technique.
I built the set around angular structure, using L curls to form spikes with dramatic height variations, contrasted by shorter, softer C and B curls to add depth and texture. To complement the lash work within the theme, I chose to contrast the sharpness of the lashes with softness in the makeup. A bold, monotone red look felt fitting, red for passion, power, and love. These are all things lashing brings out in me, making the colour choice both personal and powerful.
To further tie in the Avant-Garde and runway elements, I customised a corset for my model to echo the strong angles in the lash map and help frame her face, drawing the eye directly to the lashes. Her entire look was kept in black and red to reinforce the while ensuring the dramatic, shape-focused aesthetic lashes remained the main event.
I also created my own LASH COUTURE magazine cover for the final presentation, designing it in the style of classic Vogue layouts and fonts. Every “article” on the cover was intentionally structured to support the theme, highlight the technical design choices, and showcase how this set works at the fusion of lash artistry and high-fashion editorial storytelling.
Every element in these images was chosen to tell a single story: that impactful lash design doesn’t rely on colour alone, but on vision, skill, and intentional technique. Entering a black set into a creative category that typically favours colour is a risk, but it’s one I embraced to showcase not only my technical skill but my artistic voice — bold, intentional, and deeply personal.
2ND PLACE
NIINA PAPUNI
NATURAL LASHES & BEAUTY
AUCKLAND
“The Rise of the Phoenix”
When I first saw this year’s Creative Lash Art theme, ‘Avant Garde Runway’, my honest reaction was, “What the hell is Avant Garde - Runway, and how the hell do you create lashes that represent that?” I was confused. Lost! But determined to give it a go anyway. I began researching everything I could about avant garde fashion and runway artistry. What I found was bold, theatrical, and unapologetically expressive. Designers creating shockingly powerful visuals with odd shapes, extreme concepts, and deep themes. It was fashion meets emotion. Then I read a single line that finally clicked: "Avant Garde is art first, fashion second." That sentence gave me permission to bring this theme back to myself! To my story, my scars, and my fire.
The Creative Vision: Wearing Emotion
Avant Garde fashion is about wearing your story. It’s about turning the invisible into something people can see and feel. Like many women, I’ve been through fire: Abuse. Pain. Heartbreak. Healing. I’ve rebuilt myself piece by piece. Not loudly, but in silence and in strength. Still showing up, still smiling, still carrying myself with grace.
Red for fire, passion, and power. Electric yellow for energy, rebirth, and light
Burgundy for depth, pain, and strength. Soft grey accents to represent the ashes from which we rise. I used wavy lash extensions to mimic flickering flames. Wild, unpredictable, and alive. Every lash placement was intentional: a reminder that even chaos can become beautiful.
The Styling: Minimal, Powerful, Real
While the lashes burn bright, I chose to keep the rest of the look simple, clean, and polished. Why? Because that’s how many of us carry our pain. We look composed on the outside, while burning with resilience within. My model wore an elegant black ensemble. A nod to the phoenix’s feathers and the masks we wear. The contrast between the fiery lashes and her graceful styling represents how women survive. With power in our hearts and poise on our faces.
Final Words: A Messy, Beautiful Fire
This isn’t my most perfect set, but fire and transformation are messy.
And avant garde allows for that. It embraces the unusual, the flawed, and the unapologetically bold. The Rise of the Phoenix is not just a lash set.
It’s my story! It’s the story of every woman who’s burned, broken, and still rebuilt herself with grace.
3RD PLACE
CYNTA WILLIAMS
LASHSCAPE
WHANGAREI
Yohji Yamamoto’s 2015 finale piece stopped me from scrolling for more inspiration. It wasn’t just beautiful, it was haunting. Soft but strong. Messy but still full of grace.That gown felt like pain wrapped in petals, like something that shouldn’t make sense, but does. And in a weird way, it felt like me. So I ran with it and turn it into lashes. This set isn’t the cleanest. t’s layered. Uneven in places. It’s meant to feel like it’s carrying something - because I am.
Every fan, every spike, every colour I used had a reason. The purples and pinks represent softness, while the dark black spikes is the structure, a reminder of the weight I’ve carried. The white is stands for survival and the unknown, like fog, you can’t always see what’s next, but you move anyway. And the small touch of green shimmer, that’s hope. Quiet, but still standing.I tried to tie all these elements that were important to me, in this lash set.
I have lived through a lot. And for a long time, I felt I was just the girl who showed up. The tired one, the one holding it all together while everything fell apart. But this set, helped me speak without words. It let me say “I see you. And I’m proud of you.” This helped heal my past self, grounded my present self and giving my future self the ground she deserves to stand on.This isn’t just a lash set, not to me. This is me, putting everything I didn’t know how to say into something that could be seen. Thank you for seeing her too.
