- Gan receiving the RM1000 prize money with her 'Most Promising Designer' award.
Her shoe design, themed 'ocean shells' was inspired by the beauty of the ocean.
Gan Siad Hong was conferred the 'Most Promising Designer' award at the Malaysia International Shoe Festival.
Fashion and Retail Design student, Gan Siad Hong won the ‘Most Promising Designer’ award for the Malaysia Footwear Design Competition 2014. The semester five student walked away with RM1000 in prize money. The competition was held at Putrajaya World Trade Center on the 28th March.
The Malaysia International Shoe Festival is the largest annual shoe design event in Malaysia, and is organized by the Malaysia Footwear Manufacturers Association (MFMA), as an effort to make Malaysia the “Shoe City of Asia” as well as to be a platform for the Malaysian shoe industry to showcase, feature and promote their quality footwear to the world.
The competition, which was a part of the festival called for young Malaysian designers to submit their cutting edge designs and stand a chance to win the grand prize, or the chance to attract shoe traders and manufacturers who may be interested to buy their designs. The competition started last year, with 76 participants selected as finalists from over 200 entries. Twelve of the finalists were students of Limkokwing University.
It was very hard, I was competing against people with industry experience, but I had my family, friends, and the University supporting me.
Gan Siad Hong’s shoe design is inspired by the beauty of the ocean, and it was themed ‘ocean shells’. The leather shoe was entered in the ‘Ladies shoe’ category, and shaped like a blue coloured shell.
She said the competition was beneficial to her as a fashion designer because she has learnt to raise her creative standards to the industry’s expectations, as she was competing against people who are already in the fashion industry.
“I’ve increased my industry portfolio, and I also learned a lot of new things through this competition,” she said.
She said the competition was taxing and required her to put in a lot of time and effort, but with the support of her family and the University, she managed to not only pull through, but actually win a prize.
“It was very hard, I was competing against people with industry experience, but I had my family, friends, and the University supporting me.”
Limkokwing University presence is not new to the competition, with alumnus, Wilson Lim Wei Seng (a final year student at the time) having previously won the grand prize in the ladies shoe design category. His grand prize came with a fully-sponsored trip to the International Footwear Design Competition in Guangzhou, China, a trophy, RM5000 and an iPad 2.