Asian designers steal KL show

KL Fashion Week 2005 "The Premier Event" opened in Kuala Lumpur on May 3 with a black-tie gala night and much promotional fanfare, organized by The Star publications, L'Oreal Paris and -- for the first time since the fashion extravaganza was launched three years ago -- Tourism Malaysia.

The joint event was intended to raise Malaysia's attractiveness as a shopping, tourism and fashion destination.

KL Fashion Week is a "platform for the young and new, and the well-known", said tourism minister Datuk Dr. Leo Michael Toyad, with an emphasis on exposing the uniqueness of Malaysia's "home- grown brands".

Along with renowned Malaysian designers Edric Ong, Orson Liyu and Michael Ong, the KL line-up included established Asian designers Liang Zhi (China), Walter Ma (Hong Kong), Fumio Akiyama (Japan), Indonesia's Oscar Lawalata and Song Han Kyu (South Korea) -- about 30 top designers in all and dozens of top models.

With such a huge international cast -- and about 50 Asian print and electronic media -- organization seemed a major challenge. For example, the Japanese designer was apparently not informed that he would be showing among haute couture collections at the gala event -- and so had brought the current pret-a-porter rage in Tokyo.

Akiyama was so upset, said the fashion editor of a major Japanese newspaper, that he refused to come out on stage to take a bow.

Putting aside the question as to whether Kuala Lumpur can attain its self-proclaimed goal of becoming the "fashion hub of Asia", the designers and their creations truly lit up the catwalk with their unique blend of cultural influences, individuality and style. -- The Jakarta Post