Day 3 : Mercedes-Benz STYLO Asia Fashion Week 2014 (Backstage)

Hi all!

This is the final post of my backstage experience in the Mercedes-Benz STYLO Asia Fashion Week 2014!

If you have missed out the entries of the previous days, here are the links :

Day 1

Day 2

_____________________________________________________ 

Day 3 – Fashion Show + Awards Night (22 Oct 2014)

Today was the last day of the fashion week. The show ran the whole day but my duty only started 4PM onwards. This time, I also got to be in a proper backstage rather than like Day 1 with a super small room, limited designs, and models. There were also a lot more volunteers today and some of them were from Raffles as well.

Before the next show at 6PM, Jimmy brought his 2 assistants and I to tour around some of the booths in the exhibition hall. Basically, the designers who showcased their collections on the runway also rented booths so that potential customers who watched the shows can make purchase. There were other booths selling random things such as soaps and uniforms as well.
(Errrr... Okayyyy....)

^ Designers' booth in the exhibition hall

(I think it looks really sad. Not sure if this is the common standard though.)

^ Min Khant's booth in the exhibition hall (the designer is the guy on the left)

(ps, I met him during the fitting and he's a really nice person!)

There were 2 runways, located side-by-side so that the shows can run continuously.

For the closing ceremony, the partition was removed and the runways were combined, forming a "U" shaped runway.

(Can you picture it? Don't worry, I drew a diagram below.)

^ Runway 1 (left)

(I think this was a sadder-looking one. LOL)

 

^ Runway 2 (right)

(The fancier one, complete with elevated stage and chandeliers.)

^ The runway arrangement for the closing ceremony. 

(ps, it was SOMETHING like that, I drew this from memory)

(pss, please take note of the purple 'X', I'll explain what's that later)

Similar to Day 1, my duty for the day was to ensure the models walk the runway on time by helping them to dress up etc.

^ Backstage

(Yup, quite sempit punya, but it was quite long, like 3 times longer than shown in this picture)

^ Backstage with Melinda Looi

These are some of my favourite designs of the night : 

Pleatations (Singapore)

^ This is Lais, the one who strutted topless during the fitting (Day 2) with the same skirt. LOL

^ Her tattoo definitely completed the outfit!

^ Designs by Pleatations

(Sorry about the bras in the background. LOL)

Avel Macudio (Phillipines)

(He was the winner of Asia's Most Influential Designer in 2013)

^ Designs by Avel Macudio 

(Sorry about the hand. LOL)

^ Designs by Avel Macudio

(Photo from Demotix.com)

Avant-garde

An interesting show for the night was the avant-garde collection. Avant-garde collection are experimental or innovative works. The pieces were made with unconventional materials such as egg container, soft paper-like material as well as soft polystyrene-like material (I'm sorry, I really don't know what were the materials exactly, I'm not that experienced yet you see. LOL). To create an ombre effect, black spray paints were used.

^ Some of the avant-garde pieces

^ Qianghui in one of the avant-garde pieces

^ Alina having fun with another model inside the avant-garde piece. 

Can you spot the eyes? LOL

  The designers used clogs as shoes. Usually clogs come with red handles so they sprayed the front half black. However, clogs are free-size and the models were not able to walk properly in them so we used cable ties to make additional handles. This is avant-garde, afterall! 

^ Clogs

^ Our improvised version

Lais' avant-garde outfit was a giant umbrella with black top and leggings. She was too tired from holding onto it while waiting for the show to start so she asked me to help share the weight by carrying it with her. While we were under the umbrella, she shared stories of her modelling career which has just started a year ago. She enjoyed being a model because it enabled her to travel around the world. Before Malaysia, she was in Beijing, China and one of her biggest challenge there was the language as people there barely spoke any English and she admits she's talkative. She was pleasantly surprised that almost all Malaysians can speak English. I could see the sparkles in her eyes and how passionate she was while telling her modelling stories. 

Now you know why she was my favourite (Not just because she strutted topless OK. LOL)

^ Lais with her avant-garde umbrella

As shared previously, backstage helpers do not get the chance to watch the show at the front at all. However, I got to see Dato’ Jimmy Choo giving out some awards that night because I was waiting for the models who wore the avant-garde collection to walk the runway. 

^ Spot Dato' Jimmy Choo

As some of the avant-garde pieces were too huge and the models were unable to see properly while climbing up and down the stairs, a few people and I were sent out to help them with that. Yes, I was basically at the side of the runway holding the models' hands in the middle of the show (I was standing at the purple 'X' in the diagram earlier). Sedikit malu but we wouldn't want the models to fall down the stairs, that would be worse.

^ As you can see, some of them really can't view the bottom of their legs
(Photo from Demotix.com)

The fashion week ended with the announcement and final walk on the runway with the winning designs. The winners of the Mercedes-Benz Stylo Asia Fashion Week 2014 were :

• Albert Andrada (Phillipines) : Asia's Most Connected Designer (He's my favourite! I've mentioned it in Day 2)
• Joe Chia (Malaysia) : Asia's Most Influential Designer
• Chun Ting Liu (Taiwan) : Asia's Most Promising Designer

^ The winners of the night
(Photo from Demotix.com)

We packed up and found many clothing left behind by designers and models. As much as we wished we can keep them (the designers’ pieces I mean), they are to be stored at Stylo’s office until the rightful owner comes forward. 

But I get to keep the remaining of the avant-garde fabric!

^ I'm sure I will find some use for this eventually. LOL

We finally left the place at about 11:30PM. It was raining and my car was at the open carpark. I don't usually do this but somehow I brought my foldable umbrella (it was usually in my 'school bag'). On my walk back, I can't help but to feel how incredibly blessed I am with everything. :')

^ No naked models for you but got naked mannequins. LOL

XOXO,
Elaine New