TMCnet News
High fashion takes off at KLIA [New Straits Time (Malaysia)](New Straits Time (Malaysia) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SEPANG: Quick. Think of a place in Kuala Lumpur where you can buy the latest in fashion trends, make-up and stylish accessories from reputable brands. Didn't think of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), did you? Those who have travelled extensively or seen Terminal the movie know that airports these days are not just your gateways to travel but also your one-stop shopping and lifestyle destinations. But KLIA stole a march on other airports around the world by becoming the very first to hold fashion and styling contests. Heads turned as fashion designers, stylists and publicists aspiring to break into the fashion scene, took over some makeshift runways all over KLIA last month. Some glitz, some glamour, some chutzpah, lots of fashion sense, hardwork and inventiveness all melded to make the iStyle Fashion KLIA competition a success. It became a global Internet sensation as netizens caught the action online and its Facebook poll became the second most popular poll in the world for two weeks running, according to the organiser Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB). If you think fashion and airports have little connection, think again. According to Faizah Khairuddin, MAHB senior general manager of commercial services, "With iStyle Fashion KLIA, MAHB is seeking to reinforce KLIA's position as a fashion hub and a sophisticated lifestyle platform. "We have many high fashion brands here at KLIA and we want to heighten public awareness about the variety that is available. "More importantly, we want KLIA to be more than just a transit point. We want it to be a lifestyle destination that can meet the varied needs of travellers." iStyle, in its second year, saw six teams making the cut from an initial 14 that had signed up for the preliminaries. The six teams, each with three members, came from various fashion and design schools in the Klang Valley. Teams Black & White (Malaysian Institute of Art), SenseXophy (Carven Academy of Fashion), Walking LookBooks (TAR College), Team Trois (Raffles Design Institute), Y2B (Raffles Design Institute) and Volatile (SML Fashion Academy) were neck and neck as they went through several rounds of competition every Tuesday starting with heats 1 on Nov 2. Heats 1 saw teams creating fashionable looks for their models by using accessories that accentuated and complemented their femininity. The Heats 2 focused on men, your everyday high-flyers, who needed to look their best while making their masculinity stand out. The students played the role of image consultants, fashion designers, make-up artists, stylists and publicists who decided how their model should ideally look, based on a given theme weekly. While two in each team worked on the image of their model as designer and stylist, the third member acted as a publicist who used social media platforms to garner support for their team. Giving Ryan Seacrest a run for his money was renowned TV presenter Adrian Jalaludin, who interviewed the contestants and judges, kept the event lively and provided valuable commentary about what was happening during the show as well as behind-the-scenes going-ons in the competition. With fashion stylist Alex Eu as chief judge and mentor, the quality of judging was in no doubt. Judges who took turns to evaluate the contestants included Sonny San, Elaine Daly, Michael Ong, Rick Lee, fashion photographer extraordinaire Kim Mun and others. Winning against great odds were team Black & White's Derrick Tee Jing Wen, Vincent Leong Jia Hou and publicist Siti Aishah Abdullah. They pocketed RM2,500, a Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet device each, three units of iPod Panasonic docking stations, Redken and Shu Uemura products, Perrier collectibles and shopping vouchers. It was a hat-trick for Team Volatile, with stylists Tee Ning Jee and Gizo Tan Kuan Wah and publicist Celine Yap Chiew Pin. They not only emerged the first runners-up but also won the award for the best airport frontline attire design. Yap bagged the award for best publicist. As first runners-up, they walked away with RM2,000 and a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone each and other products. For designing the best frontline attire, Team Volatile clinched RM1,000 worth of KLIA shopping vouchers. Team Trois, which bagged third place comprised of publicist Daniel Lau and stylists Lewis Foo and Viviene Khong Zhi Yi. They won RM1,500 while each team member received products from sponsors and RM200 worth of vouchers. Present at the grand finale were MAHB chairman Tan Sri Dr Aris Othman and its managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad. (c) 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |