Group photo of guests and all winners. Guests include Prof. Kwok-yin WONG, PolyU Vice President (Education) (7th from right); Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation) (9th from right); Prof. Erin Cho, Dean of SFT (8th from Right); Ms Shirley CHAN, BBS, JP, SFT Advisory Board Chairlady (10th from left); Mr Allen WONG, Assistant Sales Director of CONSINEE GROUP Company Limited (10th from right); and Mr Benson YAU, Chairman of Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association (9th from left).
The Dean Prof. Erin Cho provides an opening speech of the Show.
Group photo of invited judges and the Dean: (from left) Ms Chan Brun, Mr Derek Chan, Prof. Erin Cho, Mr Tak Lee, and Ms Katherine Ho
“Let it rot” by Lai Chu Yi, winner of the Consinee Grand Award
“Toxic Breath” by Poon Hei Man, Peggy, winner of the HKIAIA Overall Grand Award
Hong Kong's fashion world is bursting with creativity and vitality! The much-awaited annual PolyU Fashion Show 2024, was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 5 June 2024. Organised by SFT, the Show featured 40 exceptionally talented students who captivated the audience and impressed the judges and industry professionals with a spectacular runway show. The distinctive styles, imaginative designs and modern fashion concepts of the young students look set to add powerful new momentum to the local fashion scene.
This year, the Show attracted an impressive audience of nearly 1,500 in-person guests, while an extensive online audience of over 46,000 viewers from across the globe watched on YouTube, Wechat, and Weibo live streams. These numbers highlight the growing influence of the School and further emphasise its position as a pioneer in fashion education.
The Show unveiled 30 remarkable new collections by fresh graduates (Class of 2024) specialising in fashion design, knitwear design, intimate apparel and activewear design from the BA (Hons) Scheme in Fashion and Textiles - the flagship SFT programme. In addition, a cohort of the outstanding graduating students from the MA in Fashion and Textile Design, further impressed the guests with 10 cutting-edge collections.
SFT is recognised worldwide as a leading fashion and textiles education institution, committed to establishing a thriving creative community that cultivates students with a global perspective and encourages innovative ways of thinking, that empower young talent to flourish as outstanding designers and visionary leaders in the contemporary fashion industry.
Thanks to generous support from numerous industry partners and sponsors, the Show connected the students with many influential figures from across the fashion and technology sectors, facilitated their understanding of current industry trends and helped propel them further along their career path. Seven awards and scholarships were presented at the Show in recognition of students’ outstanding work and to encourage the talented students to pursue their dreams in fashion while embracing their academic journey at SFT.
The judging panel for the Consinee Grand Award, sponsored by the event's Diamond Sponsor, Consinee Group, comprised leading fashion industry professionals including Ms Florence Tsui, Consinee Group's Marketing and Business Development Manager. In addition, four outstanding SFT alumni who served as fashion practitioners in their respective fields also joined the panel in selecting the winner. They were Ms Chan Brun (BA, 2013), founder of röyksopp gakkai, a local brand that crafts enchanting collections inspired by mushroom-infused narratives and the transformative journey of youth; Mr Derek Chan (MPhil, 2017), Design Director of DEMO, a fashion label that reimagines traditional masculinity in contemporary and gender-neutral designs; Mr Tak Lee (BA, 2014), founder of Tak L., whose design philosophy celebrates the beauty of impermanence and natural evolution; and Ms Katherine Ho (BA, 2016), Editor-in-Chief of L'OFFICIEL HONG KONG, a renowned fashion magazine from France.
The HKIAIA Overall Grand Award, sponsored by the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association (HKIAIA), which was the event’s Diamond Sponsor, was another highlight of the night. Ms Karen Ng, Secretary of HKIAIA, was invited to be the judge for this prestigious award.
Other members of the judging panel for the other various awards and scholarships were (in alphabetical order):
• Ms Janet Cheung, Vice Chairman and Project Director, Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association
• Mr Stafford Lau, Founding Chairman of SFAA Foundation Limited; Director of Stella Blu Textile Limited
• Ms Sherin Tang, Senior Manager - Admin and Operations, The Mills Fabrica
• Ms Brenda Yang, Technical Manager, Flinders Merino Group and The Woolmark Company
• Ms Dilys Yiu, Design Director, Fenix Group Holdings Limited
The winner of the Consinee Grand Award was Lai Chu-yi with her outstanding work themed “Let it rot”. The collection showcases a "let it rot" lifestyle, utilising textiles, volume, and silhouettes. It captures the pressure young people face under social labels, emphasising fabric weight and recreating relaxed bed-like features for space and comfort. The HKIAIA Overall Grand Award winner was Poon Hei-man Peggy. Her exceptional collection created under the theme “Toxic Breath” embodies love as a beautiful yet painful experience, symbolising its suffocating nature and its ability to strip away freedom. Red and black dominate the collection, with red lycoris representing the sorrow within this intense love.
For more photos and the playback of the Show, please visit our official social media accounts Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube!
“Emancipation” by Pang Wing-yan, Joyce, winner of the Fenix Young Talent Award
“Virtual Utopia” by Lo Chi-ho Steven, winner of the Go Green Award
“Let it rot” by Lai Chu-yi, winner of The The Mills Fabrica Future - Maker Award
“Magic Mushroom Dreamland” by Cheung Wai-yee, winner of the Best Use of Australian Merino Wool Award
“I am rooted, but I flow” by Hui Hei-yan, winner of the HKFDA Scholarship of Creativity 2024
