Fashion Design Graduates
Kuala Lumpur, 25 September 2012 – Raffles College of Higher Education’s final-year students showcased their graduation projects at WANTED! – was held at the J.W. Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur on the 20th September 2012.
The graduation show was the highlight for over one hundred graduates who showcased their final projects, a culmination of what they have learned in the classroom and through their course projects. Graduates who participated in the show were from Fashion Design, Fashion Marketing & Management, Jewellery Design, Visual Communication, Interactive Media Design and Interior Design.
The show signified the evolution of each student as they mature into creative, multi-faceted designers and entrepreneurs.
Since opening its doors in 1992, Raffles Fashion alumni Jonathan Cheng, Teresa Thian, Joe Chia, Silas Liew, Tengku Syahmi and Jonathan Liang have gone on to make a name for themselves in the Malaysian fashion industry. For this show, eighteen young fashion designers showcased their new collections, each with their own personal distinct style.
Twenty one year old Fong May Ee took home the award for Best Collection with In Surviving. Drawing inspiration from a desert snake’s sidewinding and skin colours, her collection is structural with much draping and layering thus interpreting the features of the snake in a whole new way. For May Ee, the greatest part of winning is showing her family and friends who have supported her, her achievement as a designer and making them proud. Her advice to other young designers is “the minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you have held on for so long”.
Kathryn Rao with Atishoo walked away First Runner-Up for Best Collection. Her poetic collection is inspired by the nursery rhyme Ring Around The Roses which is known to be associated with the Great Plague that hit England around the 17th century. Her collection, produced entirely out of canvas, muslin and sack fabrications to achieve the handkerchief effect signifies where her inspiration came from – Atishoo atishoo we all fall down, the last line of the rhyme. The painted story is made to appear as though it has been sneezed onto the cloth. Hailing from Dubai, Kathryn loved art from a young age. Her collection is a combination of both design and fine arts, the two elements define her as a person and designer. “Within every work of art lies a secret. Beneath every interpretation of art lies a concept”. She said.
Id Ego Superego by So Bu Yeow came in Second Runner-Up for Best Collection. Bubu as he is known, was inspired by his idol Beyonce’s song Ego and heavily influenced by the works of Sigmund Freud who divided the human psyche into three parts id, ego and super-ego. He wants his target market to be confident, stand firmly to their perspective and not be swayed by the mainstream. His design aesthetics are structural with a touch of minimalism. “We create and find opportunity, opportunity doesn’t come easy”.
We, at Raffles believe these new fashion graduates will move on and play an important role in the fashion industry.
Three fashion marketing & management teams launched their own lifestyle products and services. They presented their carefully researched business ideas with a fully constructed retail space, complete with sample packaging and merchandise.
Fashioncents, an online shopping website offering exclusive local brands and designs at affordable prices by Hillary Ng, Ashton Siah, Eileen Tay, Amanda Chong Faye Wong and Stacy Hui won the Best Group Project Award.
Our interior design students’ final year project required them to work on a concept for the graduation stage and exhibition design area. Their job was to transform space with the use of colour, form, lighting and texture to express their vision.
Eight jewellery designers showcased their collections. Each designer is as unique as their concept and execution. Nini Chan, whose collection titled Love at First Sight from A Midsummer Night’s Dream walked away with the Best Collection Award for Jewellery Design.
Visual Communication students’ non-verbal communication featured creative illustrations, art installations, branding and corporate identity ideas. Aminath Shareehan Ibrahim’s Kakka Kaakoa won the Best Display Award. For her project she wrote and illustrated a local legend of the Maldives. The project is important to her as she finds that the sharing of local legends and folklore is slowly dying out, she would like to bring them back again. “ My entire journey at Raffles has been amazing, I’m blessed with wonderful lecturers who have helped me to improve by leaps and bounds. I will be forever grateful to them”.
Gerry William from Yogyakarta, Indonesia took home the Best Display award for Interactive Media with his final project, Blue Sky Foundation. The project highlights the effects of air pollution on animals especially birds. Gerry hopes to find a job as an interactive motion flash site designer after graduation.
During the event, Raffles presented scholarships for the most deserving graduates worth nearly RM50,000.00 for academic achievement and best collection for fashion design.
Students who have done well throughout the course of their studies were awarded the Top Student Award for Academic Achievement during the convocation ceremony. The students are:
Fong May Ee – Fashion Design
Aminath Shareehan Ibrahim – Visual Communication
Elaine Koh – Interactive Media Design
Lim Yuen Khong – Interior Design
Sik Weng Fong – Fashion Marketing & Management
Other awards given out during the convocation ceremony were:
Best Project
Tian Wenkai – Bachelor of Design, Interior Design
Lew Pau Yee – Bachelor of Design, Graphic Design
Wenny Gunawan – Bachelor of Design, Multimedia Design
Best Stage and Exhibition Design
Chin Hao Kiat Kenneth – Interior Design
Best Display
Aminath Shareehan Ibrahim – Visual Communication
Gerry William – Interactive Media Design
Best Collection – Fashion Design
Fong May Ee – Winner
Kathryn Rao – 1st Runner-Up
So Bu Yeow – 2nd Runner-Up
Best Collection – Jewellery Design
Nini Chan
