Five HKDI graduates win DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Awards
Five HKDI graduates win DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Awards
1 December 2016
Five HKDI graduates have emerged with flying colours in the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Awards 2016, in the wake of four successes for HKDI graduates last year. This time they clinched the CreateSmart Young Design Talent Special Award, the HKDI Young Design Talent Award and the Young Design Talent Special Mention Award, together winning a total of HK$750,000 in sponsorship for overseas work or attachment towards gaining international exposure in the world of design. HKDI has reaped the highest number of accolades among all tertiary institutes in recent years, attesting to its status as a leading design education provider of Hong Kong.
Fashion design programmes laying a firm foundation
An HKDI graduate of the Higher Diploma in Fashion Design, Wilson CHOI Hung-shing has won many prizes before. His work “2/3” reflects his clear and committed views. His winning entry targeting wounded soldiers makes use of a seamless design and fabric with a special coating. The coat is tailored to support the body, with different sections able to be inflated to match the injured body parts. This heart-warming design won him unanimous commendation from the judges and earned him the CreateSmart Young Design Talent Special Award.
Winner of the CreateSmart Young Design Talent Special Award and a graduate of the same programme, Gim WONG Lai-yu was earlier named Elite Student of HKDI in 2016, earning her sponsored opportunities to learn about fashion in the UK and Switzerland. After returning to Hong Kong, she applied what she had learnt to her final-year project named BACKPACKER. Her design can be turned into a cardigan or a backpack. Made of waterproof nylon and cold-resistant wool, it takes the shape of a map, jointed by zippers. As well as being practical, the outfit exemplifies the world tour of a backpacker. Zero waste results from its making as a single piece of fabric is used without seams, thus wasting no cloth.
Another fashion design graduate, LAM Kin-yan, was awarded the HKDI Young Design Talent Award on the strength of his work named “Into the Flame”, which is inspired by the natural phenomenon of a moth being attracted to fly towards light. He applied the natural dye method he had acquired from overseas exchanges to his work, making use of natural ingredients as dyeing materials to promote eco-fashion. Kin-yan said the knowledge and skills he had learnt at HKDI have been very important, including the opportunity to develop his first fashion series in collaboration with the famous brand Cartoon Network.
LAM Kin-yan, Gim WONG and Wilson CHOI Hung-shing are currently studying the top-up degree programme offered by HKDI in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University of the UK. The trio plan to use their scholarships for attachment training in the UK to further their fashion design studies and enhance their competitiveness.
Following her win last year, higher diploma graduate in fashion design Michelle LIN was once again honoured with the Young Design Talent Special Mention Award, this time for her fashion collection “When I was young”. Michelle makes use of fresh flower prints to recall the good memories of Hong Kong people from their younger days. She said that throughout her HKDI studies, the institute provided students with numerous opportunities to join competitions, exchanges and attachment training, all helping to lay a firm foundation for their future careers. Having just completed the top-up degree programme this June, she was immediately hired by a fashion company as a designer with the chance to export her designs to overseas markets.
Merging drawing and technology to raise learning motivation of children
Apart from the good results achieved by its fashion design graduates, HKDI had further reason to celebrate as its visual communications graduate TAI Sze-man won the Young Design Talent Special Mention Award. Sze-man combines drawing with technology to develop user experiences in a bid to enhance the learning interest of children. She said that studying the design programme helped her discover her aspirations and strengths. Upon completion of the higher diploma programme of HKDI, she went on to take the top-up degree programme in visual communication offered by HKDI in collaboration with Birmingham City University, UK.
Established by the Hong Kong Design Centre, the DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Awards are aimed at recognising and nurturing up-and-coming design practitioners and design graduates based in Hong Kong. The awards serve to maintain the city’s competitiveness and consolidate its role as an Asian design hub. Award winners receive the opportunity to work with renowned design companies abroad or to study overseas through financial sponsorship. Through these opportunities, the award winners can exchange insights regarding their experiences with overseas design talents as well as enhance their skills and professional knowledge in design.
