Margo Barton

Margo Barton is a New Zealand fashion designer, milliner and academic leader of the fashion design programme at Otago Polytechnic. In 2017 she took over the position of chair of the iD Dunedin Fashion Week organising committee.

Early life Barton grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand. She learned how to use a sewing machine when she was 11 years old, and started to experiment with making garments, including outfits for her high school ball. She also modelled in department store fashion parades and for a modelling agency, and entered a Miss Otago contest in which she won third place.

In 1999 a collaborative entry with fellow Dunedin designer Andrea Bentley reached the finals in the Mittelmoda Fashion Designer Awards in Italy. The experience inspired Barton to establish a similar competition in Dunedin. In 2005 the annual iD International Emerging Designer Awards was launched and has been held alongside iD Dunedin Fashion Week every year since.