The Limkokwing trendy set once again showed their mettle against the best names in the field and this time it was at the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week 2006.

At the Utusan Malaysia Diamond Needle Fashion Awards held in conjunction with the extravaganza in mid-November, students of Limkokwing’s School of Fashion and Retail Design more than held their own against their peers. Out of 10 entries submitted by the school, four made it to the finals – culminating in the second-prize victory by final-year student Chien Wan Chun.

It was good enough to satisfy head of school Es Azren who said the competition drew a total of 200 entries. “We made up half of the final eight and that spoke volumes of our students’ efforts,” he said. “The school’s students have won many competitions in the past six years.”

In the future, the school will focus its attention on international events now that the university is expanding to London and other foreign shores.

Best fashion school

“We owe our success to the confidence instilled in us by our president, Tan Sri Dato’ Lim Kok Wing, who makes us believe we could be the best fashion school around,” he added.

In the Diamond Needle Fashion category, his students were advised to concentrate on details such as handwork and silhouette – one of the criteria of the competition. They spent three months to prepare for their entries.

Each student was required to send in three entries, under the categories of Avant-garde, Casual and Evening Wear.

Chien’s Eastern Enigma stood out not only because of its all-black appeal but also because of the Eastern elements cleverly woven in, including some batik details.

The 21-year-old, who received RM5,000 plus a trophy, intends to open a boutique in her homeland, Taiwan.

Sharing her enthusiasm was another Limkokwing finalist, Jessie Tan, the recipient of the most wolf whistles at the finals, because of her good looks.

“It was a good start to gaining more experience in the field. That’s what this show was all about,” said the 23-year-old semester two diploma student.

Unconventional elements

Her Medieval Romance collection, pre-dominantly black but with dashes of purple, combined unconventional elements such as wall paper and curtain fabric with local favourites like songket and batik.

Black, being the corporate colour of Limkokwing, also featured strongly in Audrey Goh’s collection which was no less fascinating with its knee-length pants, pleated long skirt and puffed sleeves. Strange-looking headgears and masks completed the dramatic appeal of this finalist’s collection, aptly named Midnite Masquerade.

Audrey drew inspiration from Europe, Japan and Malaysia and translated her ideas onto a variety of fabrics, including chiffon, organza, rayon and cotton.

Fourth finalist Song Wei from China went against the grain, opting for white in her ready-to-wear collection, Haunted Yunan. As the theme suggested, lots of traditional elements from the Chinese province came into play -– cotton and linen were the order of the day, making her entry the most practical and least dramatic of the lot.

It’s less about winning and more about having fun, Song Wei would say, and yes, she was touched that the judges saw it fit to include two foreign students (Chien being the other one) in the finals.