The Italian brand is available in 71 countries and has been leaving its mark on the global fashion stage with high-quality bags, shoes and accessories since 1927.

Twenty three students from 11 countries such as the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, China, India, Pakistan and South Africa were invited to explore their talented skills by producing their very own ultra-creative assemble of the iconic Furla Candy bag.

First introduced in 2010, the Furla Candy Bag quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, having sold out in both its physical and online stores. Limkokwing students belonging to the faculties of Design Innovation and Fashion and Lifestyle Design were each tasked to reinvent the bag by choosing different materials, details and colours that expressed their personal style and state of mind instilling an unpredictable element in every piece to make it the only one of its kind.

The unique installation saw a pop up of a ‘creative laboratory’ where all hardware and materials ranging from the ‘Candy’ transparent rubber, signature zipper padlocks, straw material to the colourful beads and pendants where provided by Furla for a full artisan experience.

Students produced unique and special interpretations well-liked by the crowd and special guests during the evening, amongst those being the CEO of FURLA Italy himself, Mr Erlado Polletto, Ambassador of Italy to Malaysia, His Excellency Mario Semmartino and renowned artists, fashion designers, bloggers and celebrities such as Amber Chia, Zee Avi, Diana Danielle, and Crystal Lee whom were assisted to make their own personalised Furla Candy bags on stage by the students.

The creations were objects of admiration of fans and celebrities who attended the workshop. Among the crowd favorites of the show included the personalized ‘Candy Bling’ design by Indonesian student Kezia Octaviani, which was an explosion of the signature glossy and candy black rubber adorned by gold and silver pendants and Korean student Kim Cheols’ “Straw-berry satchel”, visualised by colourful verve-rose transparent rubber, paglia and wrapped at the bottom with bubble-gum yellow and white tone-on-tone straw stitching.

“We at FURLA are very impressed with these humble apprentices from Limkokwing. They have been mastering their craft by creating their own masterpieces at such an international level whilst still in studying; -making them way ahead in their future careers by now.’’  Spoke Mr Erlado Polletto, CEO of FURLA Italy during an interview with the press.

Limkokwing was the only University participating during this workshop amongst other renowned artists and fashion designers, making it the second educational institution after British High School of Design and Art of Moscow which Furla has worked with since the beginning of the world tour in 2011.

The University was chosen to work with Furla because of its innovative spirit and passion for meddling contemporary art and fashion alike.

“Known as being Malaysia’s premier university in creative technology, with rich tradition and an entrepreneurial fashion spirit that looks to the future, we wasted no time to extend an invitation to collaborate with Limkokwing University.” said Betty Hong Regional Marketing Manager of Furla.

The University has since worked with industry giants that span from Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Adidas, Steve Madden, MAC and many more.