KL Fashion Week 2015 Designers

Malaysian designers showed us what they had been toiling away at during KL Fashion Week 2015. Needless to say, there are a lot of gifted individuals with great creativity and fascinating fashion concepts that deserve more of our attention. There were some impressive collections at KLFW 2015, which serve as a platform for Malaysian designers to showcase their Ready To Wear Collections. Last year, KLFW brought over 100,000 people together to Pavilion KL to witness more than 80 local designers demonstrate their stuff on the runway. Malaysia is starting to make its mark with an arsenal of fashion designers that are gradually influencing the Asian region and even some spreading their wings across international waters to Europe and USA.

Out of all the designers who showcased this year, we pinpoint a couple of noteworthy collections that were awe-inspiring and refreshing! It’s tough being new in the fashion industry as it is extremely competitive but these emerging designers prove to us that they have what it takes to go far.

We will start off with Part 1 which showcases womenswear designers:

Kittie YiYi Quirky, fun and bubbly would summarise her entire Spring/Summer 2016 collection. Kittie YiYi keeps things playful and whimsical with multi-coloured tulle and brilliant shades. Take a journey through a magical land where delightful appliques are plastered over exceptional pieces! Think of every colour under the rainbow and it’s represented in Kittie YiYi’s collection. Her personality consequently affects the direction of her label and she is clearly bringing joyfulness into her clothing line by making bold and smart pieces that encourage women to be brave in experimenting with fashion.

Justin Chew Justin Spring/Summer 2016 features a strong streetwear influence and definitely has wearability factor. Urban elements like graffiti are obvious in the collection which is inspired by Bruno Munari, an Italian artist known for hidden messages in his work. Justin Chew draws ideas from street art and urban lingo by intentionally using incorrect grammar in his designs. His collection is edgy yet has a cool appearance which makes it easy to be worn by young people from all over the globe.

Man Chien Man Chien is a revolutionary and cerebral designer making her first appearance at this year’s KLFW. Her unique designs have caught our eye as she deconstructs classis paintings and reinterprets them on fabric. The collection boasts a unique mix of whimsical, soft pieces with painterly patterns and cool mathbook doodling. We love the hand-painted brush strokes, voluminous silhouettes and the contrasting heaviness of fabrications.

Pearly Wong Monochromatic colours take centre stage with Pearly Wong’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection. Sustainable fashion has always been her main interest up until this very moment. Her aesthetic is certainly more dark and minimalistic and her designs display the balance of the fine line between comfort and high fashion. Pearly Wong has definitely stayed faithful to her trademark fashion identity with shades of white and black.

SHER by Twenty3 The collection makes its debut at KLFW 2015 giving the runway a contemporary, futuristic feel with tailored structural pieces and gothic dark makeup. SHER by Twenty3 is feminine with a twist, focusing on embellishments and asymmetrical designs that are sophisticated. The collection’s sharp lines give the wearer an air of womanliness while projecting distinctive strength.

Part 2 will be for menswear (coming soon).

by: Adeline Tan