Raffles International College fashion design students clean up at the M-IFW 2009 fashion awards.

Lee Jinx Yiing receiving her award for the BDA Young Designer Search 2009-photo courtesy of tongue & chic

Malaysia International Fashion Week (M-IFW) now in its seventh year was held at the Pavilion Bukit Bintang recently. The week long event showcased the latest designs of close to 100 local and regional fashion heavyweights. Organized by the Malaysia International Fashion Alliance (MIFA), the event not only promotes professional fashion designers but also discovers upcoming young designers.

The ‘10 Rising Stars’ segment featured young designers selected from Malaysia’s top fashion academies.  For every young aspiring designer who dreams of making it big, winning MIFA’s ‘Most Promising Designer of the Year’ is the surest way of being catapulted into the fashion spotlight. For the first time MIFA awarded two young designers this coveted award – Jonathan Liang and Tengku Mohd Syahmi, both from Raffles International College.
Jonathan’s collection ‘Je Suis Lupian’ was inspired by the three characters from the classic Pink Panther movie – The Thief, The Police and The Diamond. Jonathan describes it as a “merry-go-round cat and mouse game swirling in a collection”. The collection is very constructive, conceived in black, white and pink with distinctive shoulders and lapels creating new shapes and silhouettes that represent the power and edge of a swift panther-like thief.

Lee Jinx Ying's Collection - Braiding as details - photo courtesy of BDA

Syahmi’s collection is a mix of ancient history and modern design. Titled ‘The Immortalis’, it draws inspiration from ancient China’s terracotta warriors and paper fans. His collection screamed tough and rock star altogether. “It’s about the women of today – strong, confident, powerful and daring at the same time”, said Syahmi. He also won a Blackberry for his miniature design displayed at the ‘Maxis Exhibitionist Gallery’.

Both designers both received a RM10,000 cash prize each for their Most Promising Designer award.

The Bumiputra Designers Association (BDA) also held it’s ‘Young Designer Search 2009’ competition with the winner announced at the BDA-MIFW Gala Night. The competition drew entries from nine of Malaysia’s fashion schools. Raffles student Lee Jinx Ying was awarded 1st prize for the BDA Young Designer Search 2009. She received a RM5000 cash prize and RM8000 worth of jewellery from Habib. Jinx collection “Kalpavriksha” boasted detailing of braid which was inspired by the Kalpavirka tree – the tree of eternal life, also known as the Banyan Tree.

Raffles Alumni, Olivia Khoo also picked up the 2nd prize for her collection.

Raffles International College congratulates our designers for their well deserved awards from the industry. Their passion, creativity and hard work has paid off. If you would like to join the ranks of our Raffles Designers, please call us at 03 2164 1059.