KUCHING, MAY 20: Incorporating the regal elegance of India with elements of women empowerment, budding fashion designer Dahven Liew has emerged champion in The Borneo Fashion Design held this afternoon.
The 21-year-old final year diploma student in Fashion and Apparel Design from Lim Kok WIng Institute of Creative Technology walked away with RM2,000 in prize money.
“I chose India because of its regal culture, elegance and rich history.
“Banarasi silk is my material of choice in my design combining black and gold which are my favourite colours
“Banarasi is also well known for their gold and silver brocade which is quite thin and see-through which is also sexy,” he said when contacted by TVS.
First runner-up Alicia Itat Jabing, 23 and Aaron Caesar, 21, both final year students also from Lim Kok Wing Institute of Technology said they both wanted to create something different combining avant garde and haute couture.
“We chose songket as the material in our design because we wanted to feature something Malay and traditional and thought purple songket would be something fun to experiment with.
“ Other than that, the fabric is quite structured so that allowed us to explore more options like the silhouette of our garments,” said Alicia.
Second runner-up Nashila Japeri was inspired by Yves Saint Laurent Fall/Winter 2020 Fashion Show, also using songket in her design. The Miri lass, a final year Fashion Design student from Unimas walked away with RM500 in prize money.
The journey to find new talents began with Serba DigitalX Open Innovation Platform introducing the Borneo Fashion Design Competition.
Themed ‘Cultural Diversity’, the competition which commenced on April 12 2021, was aimed at inspiring young designers to explore the diversity of Borneo culture and use these elements in their designs.
This competition is part of the organiser’s effort and approach in embedding diversity and showcasing Sarawak as a locale with various ethnicity as well as to preserve and promote Sarawak’s local motives design. This four-week competition is open to undergraduate students aged between 18 to 28 years old who are based in Sarawak. The participants are required to complete tasks such as sketching, sewing, and completing a photoshoot.
The event was organised by Serba Dinamik Group Berhad in collaboration with Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Berhad (SDEC), Sarawak Media Group (SMG), the Miss Universe Malaysia Organisation, Xpero Sdn. Bhd., Women Rise, StartUp Borneo, and Old Kuching Smart Heritage (OKSHe), together with TV Sarawak as the media partner.
