The Mercedes-Benz Stylo Fashion Awards 2012, billed as the highlight of the past week, honoured distinctive individuals in their fields of expertise.
The evening was graced by F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander; also in attendance were president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Roland Folger, founder and CEO of Stylo International Datuk Nancy Yeoh, Star Publications (M) Bhd group managing director and CEO Ho Kay Tat, guest-of-honour Datuk Jimmy Choo and BritishIndia founder Pat Liew. The new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster was also unveiled at the event.
First, the beautiful people got their moment in the limelight. Model of the Year Female went to Qiang Hui and Model of the Year Male was awarded to Wilson Tan; the duo got their awards from Kai Schlickum, Mercedes-Benz vice president of marketing.
The Best Showcase Designer was up next, which saw Jovian Mandagie receiving his award from The Star managing editor June H.L. Wong. The Star was a media partner for Stylo.
This year’s Industry Achievement Award went to Tan Sri Dr Lim Kok Wing; his daughter Datuk Tiffanee Marie Lim received the award on his behalf.
The hotly-contested Emerging Designer of the Year category was next. Second runner-up was Elaine Gina from LimKokWing University of Creative Technology while first runner-up was Shadow Chew of SML Fashion Academy. They both received their prizes from Visa International Malaysia country manager Stuart Tomlinson.
The champion was Mohd Hanif Naim of SML Fashion Academy who received his award from Ho, and witnessed by Folger, Yeoh, Choo and Maylander.
The last award of the evening was Designer of the Year, which went to veteran couturier Bill Keith.
Last Sunday saw the finals of the Mercedes-Benz Stylo Model Search 2012, which went to Low Tze Shian. The lanky 19-year-old, from Penang, sashayed away with RM60,000 cash prize from F&F and a Roberge watch by Mouawad.
First runner-up Mira Bouwmeester, 14, was the youngest contestant of the night and walked away with RM50,000 while second runner-up Justin Koit, 21, won RM40,000.
For Keith, Mohd Hanif and Low, the best part of their win is yet to come; the trio will be showcasing their talents at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Mexico this September.