Last week, I’ve introduced the first 6 of the 12 finalists of Asian fashion design competition, Audi Star Creation.
Today I follow up with the rest of them to give you a hint on these young aspiring designers’ ideas and inspirations – as well as sketches!
I’ll be looking forward to seeing their full collections on the runway at next month’s Audi Fashion Festival and find out who will eventually win the competition.
But despite the fact there can only be 3 winners, it is important to remember that these 12 designers were picked from 355 entries from around Asia and thus getting this far is an accomplishment in itself.
Here’s hoping that regardless of the results, all these talents would get eventually discovered and endorsed by someone who will be able to turn their dreams – and hard work – into reality.
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An interesting and futuristic design by Vietnamese finalist Ngo Hoang Kha |
Batmunkh Uugantuya, 21 (Mongolia)
Name of collection: ‘Harmony of Elements’
Batmunkh’s women’s wear collection is inspired by the natural landscape of Mongolia that is dominated by rocky landforms. She focuses on details such as the repetition of layers and contouring in her collection, layering different fabrics and vibrant colours with unexpected results. She also draws on traditional Mongolian knotting techniques.
Haziq Putra, 21 (Singapore)
Name of collection: ‘Pursuit to Freedom’
Haziq’s menswear collection is inspired by a particularly introspective trip that he made to Kelantan, Malaysia. His manually dyed batik, from which he created a digital print, incorporates two distinct Kelantan icons – the Wau Bulan, a giant kite flown by its men, and the ikan pari, or stingray. The Kelantan fishing village in which he stayed and the greenery and padi fields that surrounded it inspires his colour choice. He also plays with textures to reflect the roughness of the stingray.
Felix Nai, 20 (Singapore)
Name of collection: ‘Ephemeral Awakening’
Singaporean Felix’s collection, ‘Ephemeral Awakening’, is based on the brief moment between sleep and wakefulness, when thoughts are blurry and out-of-focus. He uses the cherry blossom and pastels to convey this transient state, overlaying organza on dyed fabrics to create a diaphanous effect. Volume, meanwhile, helps create a malleable, indistinct silhouette. The collection is conceived in a palette of pastel shades to reflect Spring.
Chatree Maneerat, 22 (Thailand)
Name of collection: ‘The Beauty of Wind’
Chatree’s ‘The Beauty of Wind’ is inspired by the perforated handheld Chinese wooden fan. He aims to capture its intricate beauty through the use of pleating, prints, embroidery and laser cutting. Conceived in a colour palette of nude, black, white and turquoise, the collection also incorporates a mix of both historical and futuristic elements.
Ngo Hoang Kha, 20 (Vietnam)
Name of collection: ‘Conservative Entity’
The starting point for Kha’s Star Creation entry, ‘Conservative Entity’, is how pixels come together to make up images. He uses the effect of pixel glitches to express a spirit of freedom, through pixels breaking free from a picture. Kha also draws on Transformational Reconstruction, a form of draping by couture designer Shingo Sato, in which there are no side seams, shoulder seams, or darts.
Vu Ta Linh, 26 (Vietnam)
Name of collection: 'The Contour'
Linh’s women’s wear collection, 'The Contour', is inspired by a Vietnamese heritage icon – the Ruong Bac Thang rice terraces in Sapa, Vietnam – and draws on its distinct curves and waves. He captures its elegance through contrasts in colours, lines and fabric contouring. He also utilises techniques, such as quilting, stitching, weaving, embroidery and patchwork in this collection.
