Audi Star Creation 2013 winners' collections prove their talent

SINGAPORE - How many winners of talent-based competitions go on to become stars in their chosen fields? Not that many; most disappear after a all the buzz has died down. The really talented, however, go on to make a name for themselves and prove that their win wasn't a one-hit-wonder.

In 2014, Singapore's "fashion week" - Audi Fashion Festival - has carried a bit of talent-proves-true theme with shows from designers like Thomas Tait - who is only 26 but in the running to win the first LVMH Young Fashion Designer Award after already bagging the Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize - and lawyer-turned-designer Priscila Shunmugam whose label is only three years old but she's already racking up the awards with a win at the Design For Asia Awards 2013.

The theme continued with a runway show for the 2013 winners of the Audi Star Creation designer competition - Vu Ta Linh, 27, from Vietnam and Sun Yijin, 25, from China.

After a year's internship with Singapore's very own fashion retailer FJ Benjamin, the two young designers put together individual capsule collections that refined their original winning ideas and moved them forward into retail-ready ranges that displayed not only their creators' original talent but also the tempering of working in the "real world" of the fashion industry.

VU TA LINH

Vietnam's Vu Ta Linh opened the show with his eponymous label and a collection entitled "Indigo" with a concept based on a popular Vietnamese song of the same name that includes lyrics like "Say what you want to say, do what you want to do" that resonated with the designer. The song title dictated the colour palette and the concept of being free to be original allowed the collection to explore less usual shapes and construction methods.

What all this translated into on the runway was a series of softly feminine, loose shapes using fabrics of various weights and textures - a wool plaid combined with cotton voile or brocade for example - that appeared to envelop the body. Vu's skill with draping helped to give shape to the pieces and the addition of appliqued lace pieces or additional patterned fabrics served to emphasise the "natural" nature of the collection.

There was a real "Mori girl" feel to Vu's work; a Japanese subculture based on the concept of "mori" or forest fashion that emphasises natural fabrics and colours as well as simple patterns like checks and plaids, in loose layers.

The best pieces of the Indigo collection were a fabulous tunic with a Buddhist monk feel about its folds and colour; a great soft, hooded blanket coat in plaid and an enormous, full-length, circle skirt paired with a neat patchwork vest that was Vu's finale piece.

Overall this was a quietly confident collection from the designer; while the style may not be to everyone's taste, the gentle shapes and detailed textures showed that Vu's win was not a fluke. I look forward to seeing how he progresses in future.

KSANYUSAN BY SUN YIJIN

For her turn on the runway, China's Sun Yijin sent out a collection based on the concept of "Winter", the contrasting versions of the season between her homeland and Singapore, for her newly named label Ksanyusun. The dichotomy of snow versus the tropics focused the designer on mixing "winter" shades of white, grey and black, with jewel tones of orange and green; moving from one to the other via transition pieces that layered white organza over brilliant green for example.

Sun's style, in contrast to Vu's, is very approachable; it's clean, modern and crisp with clear nods to current trends and offering very wearable pieces that nonetheless are interesting enough to excite a jaded fashionistas palate.

Opening with a series of pieces in what appeared to be silk shantung embellished with graphic flower shapes on minimal shapes, there was a distinct feel of Singapore label Raoul at first (which is understandable considering the designer had worked on the brand during her internship).

However moving on it was clear that while the brand might be part of the Raoul "family" it was the younger, cooler, little sister. Sun has a really great way with knits. Not the usual small knit produced in a factory and then stitched into a tee; but fabulous, oversized sweaters that fall off the shoulders with dangling sleeves and have big, graphic black and white patterns.

In-between the knits were some great, wearable separates like on-trend full, midi skirts with matching "pyjama" tops; cute cropped jackets over midriff-baring knit tees (another strong trend); culottes, gilets, boxer shorts … each piece fit into the current trends for the season but done in a slightly-too-large, soft-casual way that fit into the collection perfectly.

It is the overall flow of Sun's collection with its strong, easily visible colour story that moved from whites through greens and into orange before returning to black and whites again - like the seasons, of course - and it's self-referencing from start to finish, for example with all the skirt and pant lengths ending at the same mid-calf point, that gave the Ksanyusun range its polish.

In the case of Sun, the promise of her winning entry collection was fully realised in her first official range. This is one designer I expect to see more of in the future.

For more information about Audi Star Creation, go to www.starcreation.sg. You can follow the event on Facebook at www.facebook.com/StarCreationSG and on Twitter at @StarCreationSG. For more information about Audi Fashion Festival 2014, go to audifashionfestival.com.

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