Semester two Fashion Retail Design student, Lee Wan Jack recently attended an international textile and costume congress in Bangkok, Thailand, which was attended by professors, researchers, scholars, students, and designers from all over Asia.

Semester two Fashion Retail Design student, Lee Wan Jack recently attended an international textile and costume congress in Bangkok, Thailand, which was attended by professors, researchers, scholars, students, and designers from all over Asia.

The congress was held at Kasetsart University (KU) from the 28-29 October 2013, and was organized by the Costume Culture Association (CCA) and universities in Thailand.

The congress had three sectors of participation, which are the oral presentation, mostly done by professors who talked about the research they did in various topics concerning fashion.

The second part was a poster presentation, and the last part, which Jack participated in, was the artwork exhibition. In this segment, participants had to present a piece of fashion art of their choice, and explain their production process and why they chose that particular piece during a presentation.

Jack’s presentation was a batik artwork, which he says was inspired by a Malaysian local flower. The colourful and exuberant design remained true to the traditional Malay batik, and he says the whole intricate design took him two weeks to complete.

Having started college as a business student in another university, Jack says he eventually realized that he had more passion for fashion than business, and after doing his research, he found Limkokwing to be the best place for him to be in order to advance in his fashion designer dreams.

“I love fashion, and dream of being an international designer one day, and I believe it’s possible because I already have experience in working with international models right here in Limkokwing,” he says.

Though only in his second semester, he has already participated in many fashion competitions, making it as a finalist in the Malaysia Footwear Design Competition for all his six shoe designs. His shoe designs were all influenced by the 18th century artistic style of ‘rococo’.

He says his fashion designs are inspired by the diverse environment in Limkokwing University, because when he meets people from other countries, he learns about their cultures and styles, and is able to come up with new creative designs from that knowledge.

“I love the environment here, we get to meet people from around the world, learn their cultures and background, that sort of thing can inspire you when making your designs in fashion,” he says.

Through the congress in Bangkok, he had a chance to meet professors and people in the industry, and says he has learnt a lot about fashion and design.

“It was a great learning experience. There were professors and designers from all over Asia, and I have taken back a lot of information to use and share with my peers.”

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