Yes, it’s the time of the year again - Asia Fashion Exchange 2012! Singapore’s fashion event of the year consists of four major pillars of AFX 2012 such as Asia Fashion Summit (AFS), Audi Star Creation Designer Competition, Blueprint trade show and the Audi Fashion Festival (AFF). I attended the press conference last Friday at Lasalle College of the Arts and gosh, the entire fashion industry was there!
For the newbies, here is a quick summary of what each pillar is all about (according to their official websites, obviously):
Asia Fashion Summit (AFS) – 14 – 17 May 2012: Asia’s fashion business conference in which international key speakers share their knowledge, industry insight and expert views across the fashion board.
Audi Star Creation - 14 May 2012: The Asian fashion design competition organised by the Textile & Fashion Federation (Singapore) ato uncover Asian talents, present them with the opportunity to launch their fashion careers and groom them into tomorrow’s top fashion designers.
Blueprint – 17 – 18 May 2012 (Tradeshow); 19 – 20 May 2012 (Emporium): Blueprint Tradeshow is the one-stop fashion trade gateway for East-West exchange, created to present up-and-coming International and Asian designers. Blueprint Emporium offers exclusive sales of seasonal wares and one-off samples from Blueprint exhibitors and other suppliers and it is open to the public.
Audi Fashion Festival (AFF) – dates unavailable: The biggest fashion event of the year for Singapore which features an international and local lineup of fashion designers, supermodels and parties all happening at Tent@Orchard.
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Watch Fash-Eccentric TV for the highlights of Blueprint 2012 and The Brandery Asia showcase.
Lee Hwa Jewellery presents this year’s Blueprint 2012 for the second time. This four-day trade and consumer fashion event, will be held at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 17 to 20 May. Yes, it’s no longer at Marina Bay Sands. This trade show features the Pre-Spring 2013 womenswear, menswear and accessories collections of Asian and International emerging designers, while Emporium from 19 to 20 May transforms the trade venue to Asia’s defining shopping destination. Tracy Phillips, Program Director of Blueprint 2012 says that the Blueprint Emporium is going to be a”shoppers’ paradise” and the public are encouraged to come and shop directly from the designers themselves. Good news, The Brandery Asia is going to be an extension of Blueprint 2012 this year to showcase the latest in fashion, trends, music and design.
Audi Singapore has come onboard as Star Creation‘s title sponsor and this year, the event has been renamed to Audi Star Creation. This year, 255 entries from 13 countries in hope of becoming the next big Asian fashion designer. This is a record number for the fashion design competition as the number of entries tripled since its inaugural year in 2010. 12 finalists will present their collection and the winners will be announced on 14 May 2012. The top three winners will win SGD10,000 in cash and a one-year internship with leading fashion retailer, FJ Benjamin. These winners will then create their capsule collection under FJ Benjamin’s guidance and compete for the Audi Young Designer Award (AYDA) and additional SGD10,000 cash prize in Audi Star Creation 2013.
images: AFX 2012 ; video: Fash-Eccentric
