S’gor Fashion Week hits runway

(Left) Colegacy Concept Store’s collection at Selangor Fashion Week which was held at a mall in Kuala Lumpur. — Photos: LOW LAY PHON/The Star

SEVERAL local and international brands made an appearance at the first-ever Selangor Fashion Week.

The two-day event was held at Fahrenheit 88, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

On top of the fashion shows, business workshops were also organised by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).

Selangor Fashion Week was founded by Miss Malaysia Kebaya (MMK) founders Dr Jason Hee Jee Pin and Nicole Fe Lynne.

Hee said the fashion week took 30 days to produce.

“We started this project with an inspiration and zero budget.

“Thankfully we have a good team of people who are very passionate.

“Volunteers helped with the production and we recruited beauty pageant contestants to showcase the fashion along with other runway models.

“We also had support from sponsors such as Pavilion Kuala Lumpur as well as the state government and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry,” he said.

Hee added that they decided to organise Selangor Fashion Week because there were many talented designers and models who do not have a platform to showcase themselves.

“We have the intention of bringing fashion weeks to Sarawak, Sabah and Johor.”

Selangor Fashion Week advisory board chairman Datuk Rashidi Hasbullah launched the event.

He said Selangor Fashion Week was a way to promote Malaysia as a fashion, culture and tourism destination, especially for Visit Malaysia 2020 where 30 million tourists are expected.

“Selangor Fashion Week which is expected to continue in 2020 can promote our fashion to tourists coming to Malaysia.”

He added that it could help showcase the state’s products, services and talents.

Bon Zainal chief creative director Bon Zainal Harun emphasised wearability in his collection.

“The sportswear collection I featured is more laid-back compared to my other collections that are more formal.

“This collection is for people from all walks of life. We purposely put our clothes on models of different shapes and sizes to show people that it looks good on everyone,” Bon said.

Lavasthraa Beautiq designer Ashweein Narayanan is a Sarawakian who designs clothes that fuse Indian traditional styles with Sarawakian native motifs, for example the Pua Kumbu saree.

“From where I come from, the Indian community makes up a very small percentage of the population.

“There is a need for us to create an awareness of our culture but if we do only Indian there will be no local touch or context.

“Sarawakian culture is not well known in the rest of the world but Indian culture is pretty popular globally.

“This is a good way to bring the global look of Indians together with the local elements from Sarawak,” Ashweein added.