Emerging Hong Kong fashion talents take centre stage at PolyU Fashion Show 2024 injecting renewed vigour into the fashion industry

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 the School of Fashion and Textiles (SFT) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), 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 45,000 viewers from across the globe watched on YouTube, Wechat, and Weibo live streams. These numbers highlight the growing influence of the PolyU School of Fashion and Textile 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 masterpieces.

The 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 Consinee Group, comprised leading fashion industry professionals including Ms Florence TSUI, Consinee Group 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, 2016), 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, which was the event’s Diamond sponsor, was another highlight of the night. Ms Karen NG, Secretary of the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries’ Association, 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 Peggy Poon Hei Man. 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.

Prof. Erin CHO, Dean of SFT said, “The annual PolyU fashion show serves as an extraordinary platform that highlights the exceptional talent, unwavering dedication and profound passion displayed by our gifted students. It is truly inspiring to witness these aspiring individuals present their innovative ideas to the world, captivate the attention of industry professionals and ignite inspiration for their future careers. This year, we took immense pride in observing a multitude of breathtaking designs, as our students brought their unique fashion perspectives to life on the runway.”

“Virtual Utopia” by LO Chi Ho, Steven, winner of the Go Green 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.

Appendix: List of Awardees

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