THE final stitches have been sewn and the hemlines checked as the countdown to unearth Singapore's next fashion design star enters the home stretch.
All will be revealed in two weeks when the inaugural Star Creation competition unveils the person who could be the country's answer to American Chinese super-designers Phillip Lim or Alexander Wang, who have garnered international commercial success over the past five years.
Singapore's answer to Lim or Wang could be discovered in two weeks' time, thanks to the event organised by the Textile and Fashion Federation Singapore, which aims to uncover new Asian talent and develop Singapore as a hub for the international design names of tomorrow.
A shortlist of 12 finalists from 75 entries has been drawn up for the competition, one of four key events of Asia Fashion Exchange (AFX).
There are five finalists from Singapore, with the rest from Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan and China. Three winners will be revealed on April 27 at a gala event at the Tent@Orchard at Ngee Ann City's Civic Plaza.
The judges are FJ Benjamin chief executive Douglas Benjamin; Achim Badstuebner, head of Audi exterior design; David Wang, chairman of the designers and retailers group at the Textile and Fashion Federation (Singapore); and Colin McDowell, creative director of Audi Fashion Festival.
The winners will each get $10,000 from Audi, a one-year work attachment with a monthly $2,500 stipend with FJ Benjamin and an opportunity to launch a capsule collection under the fashion retailer.
Three standouts from the 12 finalists:
For more The Straits Times stories, click here.
