In late 2013, editors from Harper’s Bazaar Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand gathered at Bangkok International Fashion Week 2013 for an important task. To decide the winner of the inaugural Harper’s Bazaar Asia New Generation Fashion Designer Award for finalists hailing from the four Southeast Asian countries.
Malaysia’s Harvee Kok took home the grand prize of a sponsored Master’s degree at Instituto Marangoni in London and also had his collections published in the four countries’ magazines. But as we witnessed during the Harper’s Bazaar Asia New Generation Fashion Designer Award show on the fourth day of Audi Fashion Festival 2014 – where all eight finalists showed their Spring Summer 2014 collections – Kok had been up against some fierce competition.
We bring you the best looks from each of the eight Southeast Asian designers who were the finalists of the first Harper’s Bazaar Asia New Generation Fashion Designer Award.
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Peggy Hartanto (Indonesia) – “Unseen”
Peggy Hartanto’s Spring Summer 2014 collection followed in the footsteps of Christopher Kane’s Spring Summer 2014 flower anatomy themed collection. “Unseen” was inspired by a series of X-ray floral photographs that revealed complex flower and leaf structures unseen by the naked eye.
The colour palette of dusty pink, white and black combined with feminine cuts, movement and the ingenious placement of sheer panels that translated into a romantic ingénue look.
Left: The opening look of her collection (and the show) took our breath away when the sheer organza overlay flitted like a petal swaying in the wind as the model glided down the runway.
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Teresa Lim (Singapore) – “Lenina Gone Wild”
Pin up girls gone quirky was the fun theme of Teresa Lim’s collection. She created a fictional character Lenina who appears in various incarnations. Whether as a print or in interesting pieces embroidery – with the ends of threads showing to give an undone feel to play off the handy work that has gone into making the pieces – Lenina does and says things that go against the typical gender stereotype.
Left: Every single piece was fun and brilliant. We loved not only the cut of the mint suit with bright pink embossed and embroidered lips but its cheeky irreverence too.
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Wiruwan Nhuyung (Thailand) – “En Garden”
This writer has to admit that Wiruwan Nhuyung’s “En Garden” collection was her favourite. There’s a group of Thai designers who are famous for their unapologetic girlie designs like Stretsis and Disaya and Nhuyung could easily join the gang. The 23-year-old designer possesses masterful hand-cutting skills that could have passed for machine laser cut floral geometric patterns. Influenced by flowers, impressionist design and of course femininity, acrylic necklaces and sharp shoulder details gave a slight edge to the pieces so the look wasn’t entirely sugar sweet.
Left: It was hard picking a favourite yet the last look – a two-piece culottes set with additional petal appliques for a 3D effect showcased Nhuyung’s talent really well.
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Sean Loh (Malaysia) – “A Thousand Kisses Deep”
Madame Butterfly inspired Seon Loh. Besides the Japanese inspiration, it was the tragic love of the opera that set the tone of his Spring Summer collection. Dramatic kimono and Hakama pants on an all-black palette, with embroidered lace and textured polyester translated into looks that the designer said embodies traditional Japanese uniform but also brings to life the contemporary fashion of today.
Left: We felt that simple was the best. The open lace blouse tucked into a peplum pencil skirt with a Japanese sash was both modern due to the cut and traditional – the lace reminded us of the Peranakan kebaya.
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Yahn Adam (Singapore) – “My Asylum”
“My Asylum” was undoubtedly based on punk fashion when we saw the first model in a gas mask (or maybe Singapore’s haze?). Yahn Adam fused dyed X-ray film material together with chainmail and distressed jeans to showcase what seemed to be a disturbed mind with splatters of blood all round. Definitely bold and non conformist.
Left: His last look was our favourite with an ironically trendy crop top paired with a pencil skirt with chainmail detail to show off a surprisingly feminine silhouette.
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Jatupong Metula (Thailand) – “The Whispering”
Jatupong Metula likes shiny things, we were very sure of that, by the bling presented in his collection. The Thai designer thought of the wall murals of the Phumin Temple in Nan province in Thailand and “The Whispering” is based on a legend from the province. He used a local weaving pattern that his grandmother used to wear. The result was an interesting pattern that he highlighted with sequins and boxy shapes juxtaposed with feminine silhouettes.
Left: His one shoulder long dress managed to merge the traditional pattern, bling and a decidedly modern design of a shoulder strap across the bodice for a standout look.
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Sheila Wijaya (Indonesia) – “Moonshine”
Art plant photography influenced the silhouette of Sheila Wijaya’s collection while High Priestess Tarot cards were the basis of a mysterious elegant figure draped in flowy elements. Unfortunately, as the second last collection shown, the looks were dull compared with those that came before them. However, a degree of drama was still conjured up with the sweeping long pieces.
Left: The pairing of a structured blazer with a long flowy skirt was not new but still a trusty combination and turned out to be what we thought was a good look from “Moonshine”.
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Harvee Kok (Malaysia) – “Bipolarity”
The winner of the Harper’s Bazaar Asia New Generation Fashion Designer Award looked towards the game of weiqi for inspiration. Just like the black and white playing pieces, Harvee Kok used metallic beads on checkered texture fabrics. The game has limited possibilities and the Malaysian designer played with zippers to discover new shapes and details for his Spring Summer 2014 collection.
We loved the playful high-low sweater first look with zippered shorts - the uneven hems and zip that ran across the hips revealed that there was more to it than at first glance.
Check out the rest of the looks from the show in the gallery below.
The Harper’s Bazaar Asia New Generation Fashion Designer Award runway show took place at Audi Fashion Festival 2014 at the Tent @ Orchard, on May 17, 2014.
Audi Fashion Festival 2014 is happening from May 14 to 18, 2014. Tickets are available atsistic.com. For more information, go towww.audifashionfestival.com. Get updates on AFF 2014 on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/AudiFashionFestivalSingapore, on Twitter@AudiFashionFest and Instagram@AudiFashionFest and by following the hashtag #affsg