Limkokwing University’s Fashion and Retail Design student, Tania Vania Hidayat from Indonesia won the Indonesian Odioli Fashion Competition which was held in Jakarta. The competition submission ran from last year October and the winners were selected this March.
Odioli is an Indonesian online shop specializing in womenswear. The shop ran the competition to give young designers an opportunity to have their designs in-store.
The theme of the competition was ‘Spring is Here’, requiring designers to create lively designs using spring colours. Designs were judged based on creativity, originality, marketability, and relation to the theme.
Tania submitted a collection of a floral dress, pants, shirt, and a jacket, all designs inspired by the lively colours of flowers. Her collection was simple yet stylish and ready-to-wear, which gives it more marketability.
She said the competition added to her experience in fashion design, as she is already familiar with runway designing, due to the many competitions the University encourages students participate in, and the fashion shows held every Thursday.
“I gained a lot of experience from this. It was something different from my runway design knowledge.”
She says studying Fashion in Limkokwing has made her dreams of owning a fashion line closer to reality because she now understands industry expectations. The University being the first to own a fashion label, and some of her designs featured within the label has also realised that dream.
She also credits the University with helping her acquire other skills that are not necessarily fashion design skills, but are very important for a fashion designer.
“Our studies are not only focused on designing clothes patterns and sewing. I have learnt skills like photography, which are necessary for the fashion industry,” she says.
Tania, who hails from a fashion industry family, has already created designs for her family’s clothing business. She says she has always been interested in fashion design as she watched her mother manage a clothing factory. Limkokwing University was the ‘best platform for her to gain experience in both garment design and the business aspect of the fashion industry’.
She has participated in several fashion industry events and competitions through the University, including the Sakura Collection 2014 Asia Student Award which was organised by the Embassy of Japan.
