Australian International School's Seams of a New Era fashion show look and do good
Shades of blue, a throwback to the 80s, and space race-era designs featured at a charity fashion show held by Australian International School
On the left, Hunter Lee White chose to keep things relatively simple but innovative in the Bad Girlz on the Score Board collection. While on the right, Kai Kavan was inspired by the 80s love of fun and costume. On June 17, “Seams” – an annual charity fashion show – had students at the Australian International School in Hong Kong (AISHK) walk the runway in the name of the underprivileged in developing countries, raising HK$38,000 for charity.
This year, the money will be donated to the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation (CNCF), which is committed to helping relieve child poverty in Vietnam and Mongolia, and giving children the right to a safe childhood, with good health-care and a decent education.
Seams of a New Era 2017 was an immersive multimedia experience, and featured everything from vibrant, neon couture from the 60s and 80s, to street style, highly wearable clothing.
This years theme was Arcadium – a sort of modern take on the synthwave aesthetic movement – and drew inspiration from retro blockbusters films like Bladerunner. The night was a showcase of not only the talents of the fashion designers but also the video artists, the DJs, the performers that helped make the night one to remember.
“Seams ... encompasses art, talent and creativity of all disciplines,” said the show’s producer, Cynthia Lou. “I wanted to change the way Seams operated – it’s not just about fashion. There are so many creative young people [out there], not just at AISHK, but in the world that needed to be recognised. I guess Seams was just the platform we were looking for.”
Deborah Lam, 18, is the designer of a line featured on the night, called Ultramarine. Like the name suggests, the fashion line relies heavily on the colour blue.
“I wanted to use this colour and incorporate it into different designs in various shades,” she said. This, she added, is because blue can be found everywhere – from man-made objects to things in nature. Her outfits from her collection are a mixture of contrasting patterns, which pair feminine florals with bold stripes in blue.
The So Fresh Collection, designed by 17-year-old Kai Kavan, is a 19-piece collection arranged into 10 unique outfits. “It’s a ‘flashback to the 80s’ theme. I’m using it as a sort of social commentary on the fashion industry, and how trends get reused and lose their appeal,” Kai explained. The theme is reminiscent of the “Vintage Americana” look, and merges 80s pop culture themes with looks from movies like Mad Max. “These pieces are meant to be fun, gender-neutral and high couture.”
Hunter Lee White’s line, Bad Girlz on the Score Board, captivated the audience with its simple but refreshing looks. Simplicity, the 17-year-old said, was key to the collection.
“We wanted to find something we’d wear on the street that would also look innovative and chic,” Hunter said of the collaboration line with fellow student Tiffany Tong, 17. The collection was made with an arcade in mind, and even featured vibrant lights. “We also looked at different eras in fashion industry, and the result was that our set pieces were inspired by female singers in Hong Kong in the 70s – like what they wore on their album covers – and the tops worn in the 00s.”
It’s human nature to think about what the future holds, and wonder what it’ll bring – and that’s something Nisham Limbu tried to capture in her line by merging fashion with the hype of the 1950s space race. In order to make her line suitable for daily wear now, the 18-year-old toned down the futuristic designs that the 50s predicted would become popular.
“I chose the 50s because we’re living “the future” that many dreamed about then,” she said. “I wanted my designs to remind people to appreciate that the present we’re living in is someone else’s future.”
Edited by Ginny Wong