by Jethro Wegener
The Maze of Emotions was the inaugural fashion festival for the first batch of graduating degree students from MDIS School of Fashion and Design. Nine students from Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Fashion Marketing and Branding and four students from Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Fashion Design got the chance to showcase their graduation projects to a large crowd of fashionistas.
While the event took its inspiration from mazes in popular culture, such as the library labyrinth from Umberto Eco’s ‘The Name of the Rose’ – The Maze in this case was the expedition through the creative process, from the first stages of research and conceptualisation through to completion. Industry’s Choice and People’s Choice Awards were presented to the graduates as well.
Lancer Wong from Fashion Marketing and Design, whose project ‘Robinson’s: The Integrated Shopping App’ was a mobile application designed to improve a customer’s experience with Robinson’s, won the Industry’s Choice Award.
The People’s Choice Award for Fashion Marketing and Design went to Chowlyn Ng Xin Ni’s Sustainable Fashion Made Chic, a project designed to dispute the belief that sustainable fashion is boring. The project seeks to rebrand local fashion house ZHAI by using today’s ever advancing technology.
Yuna Yun’s collection ‘Soft Outside, Strong Inside’ reflected its designer’s nature and Korean heritage, creating a subtle balance between Korean cultural legacy and modern fashion. She received the Industry’s Choice Award in recognition of her efforts. The award will partner her with retailer Inverted Edge, with whom she will co-design and market a new joint line – a prodigious first step for any graduating student.
The collection from Drishti Makhija, which highlighted the human body’s imperfections in a unique and interesting manner by embracing them as something positive, received the People’s Choice Award. Not surprisingly, Drishti discovered a passion for design at a young age and seeks to empower women to love their bodies and blemishes.
