The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Poly U) staged its Master of Arts Graduation Fashion Show at the Hong Kong Fashion Week on July 7. It showcased the creative works of its 22 selected graduating students of the master program in Fashion and Textile Design. Each student presented a collection of four outfits designed under their chosen themes. Their innovative collections demonstrated the creativity of Hong Kong’s young designers.
Let’s meet four of these young designers and learn about their experiences and dreams.
Wilfred Chan started his interest in fashion design as a young boy by cutting his grandpa’s pants and tailoring his school uniform when he was 12. He discovered his devotion to textile and design, and decided to concentrate his study in fashion design. Wilfred finished his degree in fashion textiles enterprise in the UK, and was admitted to Hong Kong Poly U’s master program last year.
Wilfred's multifunctional coat
In his graduation project, Wilfred named it “Cage 24”, it was inspired by Hong Kong’s cage homes, where people squeeze all their belongings in bunk beds with curtains and clothes clipped to the bed frame for privacy. This gave him the idea of attaching different pieces together with clips hidden under the garment. His garments can be easily attached or detached for multi-functional purposes. One of his favorite pieces, a warm trench coat could turn into a hip leather vest for a night out, which is a perfect outfit for a working woman who can wear the coat for work and the vest for happy hour after work. Wilfred’s targeted market of his design is 28-40 year-old working women who are into stylish and feminine but practical outfits for work and social life.
Before the graduation project, Wilfred had also won the Best of APLF award 2010 in March, and became interested in using leather his design. “Leather is fun to play with, because it can be hard or soft and depends how you utilize it. It gives you whatever shape you desire” Wilfred says.
Wilfred and his model at the fashion show
Approaching the end of the MA program at Poly U, Wilfred said he learned things not taught in a classroom, such as finding material sources, managing budgets and deadlines, etc. Upon graduation, he is hoping for a job opportunity in Hong Kong as he believes the future of fashion business will be in Asia, particularly in the Greater China region.
Louis Wong, on the other hand, presents a youthful, street-pop style in his graduation collection called Addiction.
He wanted to present the image of tough girls with boyish look on the outside but femininity at the inner layer; that explains the rectangular jackets with the tight pants and mini skirts in his collection. One of his favorite pieces in the collection, plastic jacket with luminous paints took him a week of sleepless days and nights to make, from finding the right plastic material to countless trials and errors to get the desired graphs and colours. Along with the bike helmet and tights, it resembles Louis’s ideal image for his targeted design market, young and energetic girls that are into simple and comfortable street wear with a touch of chic.
Louis obtained his bachelor degree in fashion design and technology at London College of Fashion where he learned most of his design inspiration and knowledge. The master program at Poly U earned him hands-on experience through projects on different themes with tight deadlines. For example, he entered the Elderly Fashion Design Contest where he got to design for a completely different generation, and he was also the finalist of the Best of APLF Award that he made garments in leather only.
Alexander Wang is Louis’s favorite fashion designer for his unique, simple, and free style. One day, Louis would love to have his own clothing line for young people that is affordable and stylish, but not just trend followers.
Crystal Gong is a young designer from Beijing. As a daughter of a lawyer and a medical professor, Crystal chose a completely different career path from her parents; instead, she was devoted to arts since a young age, and worked her way through to one of the best fashion institutes in China, the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. She was one of the 190 students to get accepted from among the 50,000, yes, that’s 50,000 who applied in 2005. Upon graduation in Beijing, Crystal came to Hong Kong where she believes she can learn about the global fashion market with the focus in Asia.
Model in Crystal's design; (on the right) Crystal, in the making of her dress.
In her graduation project - Intangible Sign showed the spirit of simple and abstract throughout the collection. Her main piece in the collection, a rectangular-shaped dress was made in wool gluing on thick fabrics because she wanted the touch of wool with a geometric shape. Crystal hand-made this whole dress from knitting the wool in the desired pattern, to gluing the wool on fabric piece by piece. The graduation collections took Crystal several months in preparation, but the result is all worth it for her. She said this year in Hong Kong Poly U had made her a more mature designer, and set a clearer goal for her career.
Upon graduation at Poly U, Crystal will be heading to Milan, where she will do a certificate program at the Polytechnic Institute of Milan. By adopting more fashion design ideas and experiences from one of the world’s fashion capitals, Crystal is confident that she can contribute and participate in developing the future fashion scene in Asia.
Sandra Pan is also a young designer from China. Just like the other students, her love for the arts started in childhood. She started to paint when she was four.
After completing her BA degree in Fashion at China Academy of Art, she chose Poly U in Hong Kong because she believes the program is more practical. In this one year program, Sandra is thrilled that she had completed many projects on a variety of subjects, and understands more about the nature of the business and retail market.
Sandra's collection; (On the right) Sandra and her model
Sandra’s graduation project had a very interesting theme called “When Coca-cola encounters Coco Chanel”. Her collection is a remix of the pop culture and classic. A lot of bright colors and transparent materials were used in her collection to create a fun and interesting effect. The late fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s design style of bold and fun is Sandra’s favorite, and also the inspiration of her design ideas.
On the other hand, Sandra would like to try designing wedding and evening gowns. She said making gowns for brides would be an interesting experience because you are making the most important dress in a girl’s life.
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