Kaohsiung fashion Awards celebrate a renaissance of style in Southern Taiwan
Kaohsiung fashion Awards celebrate a renaissance of style in Southern Taiwan
2023-03-24
Taiwan’s fashion industry is thriving. But while most of the country’s fashion experts are based in Taipei, there’s a growing fashion hub down in the south. The Kaohsiung Fashion Awards are the highlight of the fashion calendar in southern Taiwan. Last year the awards opened up to international students, creating a burst of new energy for the fashion scene. We went to the port city to meet some of the designers who are contributing to this sartorial renaissance.
Models and celebrities take to the catwalk at Kaohsiung Fashion Awards, setting the standard for fashion in the south.
Kaohsiung has invested heavily in the fashion industry, hoping to tempt rising stars to build their careers in the city.
Fashion designer Sun Yi-chih focuses intently as he cuts a piece of fabric, before taking it to the sewing machine.
He’s been working in Kaohsiung ever since he graduated, and his formalwear creations are all one-of-a-kind.
Sun Yi-chih
I’ve worked with TV presenters and performers, for example, the FTV presenter Crystal Liu. This year we worked with her for the Alishan Sunrise Impression Concert, and produced her clothing. The performers we’ve worked with include Janet and Patty Lee. We’ve collaborated on their outfits when they hosted events and made publicity appearances.
Meanwhile, Wang Jui-ting is another Kaohsiung designer. After growing up in Kaohsiung, he studied occupational therapy at university, before returning to his hometown to take up the family uniform business, and its three decades of history. His designs incorporate thoughtful elements from many other walks of life.
Wang Jui-ting
Clothes designer
My mother might feel that functional fabrics, such as antibacterial fabrics, are unnecessary. But what we discussed was first trying to use them in clothes that will come in direct contact with food, such as uniforms for restaurant staff, and in the end we came to an agreement.
Wang and his mother have clashed over design theory, but their collaboration has sweet results. They’ve also witnessed the transformation in Kaohsiung’s design industry in recent years.
Wang Jui-ting
Clothes designer
On the one hand, we’ve been serving in this place for a long time, and we’ve developed relationships with various firms and companies. Of course, the industry in Taipei is very far ahead. But we think there are also a lot of opportunities in Kaohsiung. More and more department stores are opening here, which shows that this place has consumer power.
Sun Yi-chih
Clothes designer
The fashion awards have grown quite fast from its first year to now. At the start it was limited to design schools in the south, but last year they started to allow international fashion students to enter. In that sense I feel like it’s the “Southern Fashion Index.”
The growth of the fashion industry in Kaohsiung is thanks to government support, but also to the hard work of many young designers who are determined to put down roots in their hometown and create a new fashion capital for Taiwan.
時尚新血深耕家鄉 打造高雄時尚之都
2023-03-24
台灣時尚產業，不少人都會認為在台北，而這幾年高雄持續努力扶植青年設計師，舉辦南台灣時尚指標-高雄時尚大賞，但其實高雄在地也有年輕的時尚設計師，持續努力，有人返鄉接下30年老招牌；也有畢業後就深耕高雄，從打版、裁剪到車縫一手包辦的設計師，透過新聞帶您去看看。
現場搭配燈光音樂，加上凱渥名模以及藝人走秀，這是南台灣時尚指標高雄時尚大賞。
高雄扶植時尚產業，注入不少心血，希望更多新秀留下來發展。
眼神專注，拿著剪刀裁剪布料，接下來到旁邊裁縫車車布。
他是服裝設計師孫義智，從畢業就在高雄打拚，設計出來的禮服，都是獨一無二款。
[[服裝設計師孫義智]]
"包括像主播還有一些藝人，像民視的劉方慈主播，我們今年有跟她配合阿里山日出音樂會，我們這邊提供她衣服，藝人我們有跟像Janet、大霈，她們可能出席一些活動主持，宣傳的部分，我們有跟她提供服裝的合作"
而返鄉接下有30多年制服家業的服裝設計師王瑞鼎，大學念的是職能治療學系，從他手中畫出來的設計圖，多了些不同領域帶進來的體貼。
[[服裝設計師王瑞鼎]]
"機能布料，像是抗菌的布料，可能媽媽那邊會覺得不需要，我們有討論出來可以跟一些像是餐飲業的內場跟外場，這些比較直接接觸食物部分的衣服，可以先做結合，我們到最後也是有達到共識"
母子間在理念上有過衝突，最後得到甜蜜的果實，更看到這幾年高雄在時尚上的轉變。
[[服裝設計師王瑞鼎]]
"一方面我們覺得長時間在這個地方服務，然後也跟這些企業跟公司有感情了，那確實台北的產業都走在很前面，但是我們覺得高雄也是很有機會，現在也是很多百貨陸續越開越多，代表說這個地方也是有消費力的"
[[服裝設計師孫義智]]
"時尚大賞從第一屆到現在其實它成長算蠻快速的，因為一開始只是侷限於南部的設計學校，去年開始已經有讓國際的服裝學生也都可以參與，就是這一塊的話，我覺得有一點像是南部的時尚指標了"
高雄時尚產業成長中，靠的除了政府的協助，年輕設計師們也持續深耕，希望自己的家鄉，躍居成時尚之都。
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