AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search 2015 winners revealed on KL Fashion Week Runway

..... and for the first time ever, thanks to the AirAsia Bloggers Community (AABC), yours truly was there at the Pavilion KL where the entire centre concourse had been cordoned off and transformed into an elegant fashion runway, especially for the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week 2015...

We were of course welcomed by the oh-so-lovely AirAsia stewardesses from different countries, including Philippines and Thailand..

Anyway, why was I here? I was here to check out the Grand Finale

of the AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search, which was aimed 

to provide a platform for young aspiring designers to showcase 

their talents and kick start them into the fashion industry which 

took place today at the pinnacle of Malaysia’s most awaited and 

celebrated fashion event; Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week Ready To 

Wear 2015 (KLFWRTW2015).

It was exciting as we waited to be allowed into runway area....

For your info, there was a total of 10 young designers who had 

been given this chance of a lifetime to showcase their creations on

 the prestigious KLFWRTW2015 runway. 

Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia Berhad commented, “AirAsia 

have always been a great supporter of youth and talent development

 in the region. The aspiring designers have impressed us with their 

collection showcased today and we see huge potential in all of 

them. To got to show in the finale is a win and I hope the 10 young 

designers take this exposure as the first step to continue to pursue 

their dreams of making it big in the fashion industry”

“The end of the AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search only means it’s the beginning of their journey in the fashion industry. The winner of this designer search will be able to present a full collection on the 2016 KL Fashion Week Ready to Wear – and we look forward to what the winners has to present next year!,” she added.

  

Andrew Tan, Founder of KL Fashion Week RTW said, “We

 applaud AirAsia’s commitment to help young aspiring talents to 

fulfill their dreams. To be part of KL Fashion Week RTW is a big 

deal and today we saw not one or two but 10 young designers 

given the opportunity to showcase their creations at KL Fashion 

Week RTW. This overall experience – from presentation of sketch, 

fitting, tips from the experts and finally opportunity to present their 

collection and share the runway stage with established local and 

international designers is truly a remarkable platform”.

This innovative designer search, which was announced in May 

2015 received an overwhelming more then 340 submissions and is

 part of AirAsia’s continuous effort in youth and talent 

development in this region, which also includes various young 

sports talents in the region.

A total of 62 designers were shortlisted to present their inspiration 

and sketches and from these, only 10 finalists were selected after a

 grueling judging session to present their collection at the KL 

Fashion Week RTW 2015 Runway.

  

All these ten finalists were evaluated based on their originality,

creativity, design, stage presentation and consistency in their 

proposed collection. Throughout the process, they were exposed to

 well established designers and fashion consultants, who shared 

tips and advice on how to make it big in the industry.

AirAsia as the preferred travel partner also flew in fashion 

designers namely YE’S from China, Saveus from 

Australia,Thomas Wee from Singapore and Mel Ahyar from 

Indonesia to be part of the amazing showcase lineup at the KL

 Fashion Week RTW 2015, connecting fashion talents from around

 the region through the airline’s wide connectivity and route 

network.

AirAsia BIG, the airline’s global loyalty programme is a sponsor 

of the AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search 2015, along with 

special thanks to the support of JW Marriott Hotel, and Dell.

Do check out and follow the journey of AirAsia Runway Ready

 Designer Search 2015 on AirAsia’s YouTube channel 

(youtube.com/airasia) for webisodes, behind-the-scenes and 

exclusive interviews with the judges and more; as well as follow

 AirAsia’s Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia) and Twitter 

(twitter.com/AirAsia) for other activities and updates about the 

airline.

  

 Personally, the designs I saw were pretty amazing and you could not even tell that they were actually designed by amateurs... If you did not tell me, I would have thought the range of ready to wear clothing showcased on this runway here which I saw were all by professional well known designers...

The Top 3 AirAsia’s Most Promising Designers were revealed 

after an intense final round of judging.

Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia Berhad together with Andrew 

Tan, Founder of Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week RTWpresented 

the prizes to the Top 3 aspiring designers. Both of them are part of 

the esteemed panel of judges for this one-of-a-kind designer search

 which included renowned fashion designers Jovian 

Mandagie and Khoon Hooi, as well asKhairul Abidin 

Ishak, Editor of Malaysia’s best-selling Malay lifestyle 

magazine – EH!.

  

The first runner-up, Shazmin Hashim from Universiti Teknologi 

MARA (UiTM) and second runner-up, Ter Mei Ching from Esmod

 Kuala Lumpur , received return flights to Sydney and Hong Kong,

 along with 60,000 BIG Points and 33,000 BIG Points 

respectively; a trophy as well as one unit of Dell Inspiron 11 3000 

Laptop each.

The Grand Prize winner, Lee Bao En from UCSI 

University, walked away with return flights to Tokyo, 60,000 

BIG Points, one unit of Dell Inspiron 11 3000 Laptop and a 

guaranteed spot to showcase a full collection for KL Fashion 

Week RTW 2016! Congratulations on a job well done....!!

One lucky finalist was announced as apprentice by Jovian Mandagie to continue to gain real fashion experience with him and his team at the House of Jovian Mandagie.

The panel of judges Andrew Tan, Founder of KLFW RTW 2015; Ms Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia Berhad;   Khoon Hooi, Fashion Designer ; Khairul Abidin, Editor of EH! Magazine and Jovian Mandagie, fashion designer

 

1st Runner Up Shazmin Hashim from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM); The Grand Winner of AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search 2015 , Lee Bao En from UCSI University and 2nd Runner Up of this designer search Ter Mei Ching from Esmod Kuala Lumpur

 

Ms Aireen Omar, CEO of AirAsia Berhad at an interview after the event

Thank you to AirAsia and AABC for giving me this amazing opportunity to attend a real fashion show....