The AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search (AARRDS) goes regional this year with the competition expanded to include Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines, apart from Malaysia to provide a platform for young aspiring designers from around the region to showcase their talents and help catapult them into the fashion industry.
This designer search, which is being held for the second time is in collaboration with the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week Ready to Wear (KLFW RTW) team and was launched by Ms Aireen Omar, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Berhad in Kuala Lumpur today together with Mr Andrew Tan, Founder of KLFW RTW.
Audition rounds will be held in Jakarta (16 April), Manila (23 April), Kuala Lumpur (30 April), Singapore (7 May) and Bangkok (14 May) to discover local talents from each regional city, and the Top 3 from the respective cities will represent their country during the Grand Finale in August on the prestigious KLFW RTW 2016 runway.
Aireen Omar, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Berhad said,
“There is so much talent in this region, and as a truly Asean brand, we want to expand this designer search to other countries apart from Malaysia. We hope to provide all aspiring young fashion designers across Asean with a platform to empower and catapult their careers in the fashion industry.
This regional designer search will be unparalleled and bring together the region’s fashion talents and industry for the first time on this scale. We look forward to see new talents this year and AirAsia is proud to be part of their journey.”
Andrew Tan, Founder of Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week Ready to Wear shared,
“It is such an honour to share this important platform with AirAsia – to foster new talents and giving these designers the opportunity to present their collection and creativity on a professional runway.
We are thrilled to be working with AirAsia for the second time, following last year’s success for the AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search; and to bring this year’s competition to another level.”
Both Aireen Omar and Andrew Tan will be part of the panel of judges for this year’s AARRDS 2016, with Vivy Yusof, owner of renowned fashion e-commerce site FashionValet.com, Alia Bastamam, top fashion designer and Suzie Adnan, Editor-in-Chief of GLAM magazine joining the panel for the Malaysian auditions.
This designer search is open to local or international students, 28 years of age or below, and currently studying or have graduated from fashion design schools in any of the five countries included in this search. Three (3) women’s ready-to-wear sketches inspired by Asean destinations are to be submitted with the complete registration form available at klfashionweek.com. Submission deadline is by 12 April 2016.
Throughout the audition rounds in each country, potential young designers will have to present their vision and sketches of Asean-inspired designs to the panel of judges in each city. The Top 3 finalists chosen from each country will have their collection featured at the KLFW RTW 2016 runway this August 2016 and compete for a chance to be AirAsia’s Most Promising Designer 2016.
Prizes worth at least RM350,000 awaits the winner of this competition including a confirmed show segment to showcase his or her full collection at KLFW RTW 2017, mentorship from the KLFW RTW team; RM25,000 sponsored by FashionValet to produce a capsule collection and sold on fashionvalet.com, 150,000 AirAsia BIG Points, AirAsia or AirAsia X flights, as well as many other prizes which will be announced soon.
AirAsia is also KLFW RTW 2016’s Preferred Travel Partner and will be flying in fashion designers throughout the AirAsia Group’s extensive route network including from Singapore, India, Indonesia, China, Australia and South Korea to be featured on the KLFW RTW 2016 runway.
Lookout and follow the development of AirAsia Runway Ready Designer Search 2016 via webisodes on Youtube (youtube.com/user/AirAsia), and other updates via Twitter (twitter.com/AirAsia) and Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia) or our social media hashtag #AirAsiaRunway.
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