Student Designers Debut New Fashion Line, BLUMEX and Largest Fashion Collection by MDIS at Singapore Fashion Week 2017

• 60 designs from 10 graduate designers from MDIS School of Fashion and Design
• 48-piece BLUMEX collection, in collaboration with Blum & Co., local fashion label

Singapore Fashion Week 2017 MDIS School of Fashion and Design and Blum & Co. debut a new fashion line, BLUMEX for young executive women. This is the first time that designs from the MDIS School of Fashion and Design will launch commercially, through a collaboration with Blum & Co.

Alongside the BLUMEX collection, graduate designers from the MDIS School of Fashion and Design and Nottingham Trent University, UK will also showcase a 60-piece fashion collection themed “Shades of Millennials”.

4^th MDIS Graduation Fashion Show at Singapore Fashion Week 2017

The 10 aspiring graduate designers from China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Cambodia drew inspiration from their personal experiences and delivered a cultural interpretation of how millennials view the world through their collections (see Factsheet for full descriptions).

Some outstanding collections from the graduate designers include:

1. “Glow in Age” by Jeon Eunha (Korea) – designed for women in their 50s and 60s with a focus on colour and unique prints, the collection seeks to redefine ageing by shifting conversation to personality and individuality.
2. “Quintessence of Chinese Culture” by Wang Shijia (China) – a modernization of culture and tradition in today’s world, the collection takes inspiration from the meaning of different colours in a Beijing opera, a quintessence of Chinese culture with a play on a myriad of colours as the defining theme.
3. “The Strength in Pain” by Jack Shih (Taiwan) – a reflection of the growing pains of life’s ups and downs. Inspired by a phoenix arising anew from its ashes, Jack’s designs follow a journey to greatness; from a darkish beginning to bursts of colours, with all six designs hitting the runway chronologically.

“Our showcases at Singapore Fashion Week exemplify our aim to nurture the next generation of creative, industry-ready and forward looking talent. The industry collaborations with fashion leaders like Blum & Co. has given our students the full breadth of real-world hands-on learning experiences; from conceptualization-to-realization. And this year, we tap on the prominence of Singapore Fashion Week to provide a platform for our Year 2 degree students to present their works too,” said Ms Liz Thng, Head of MDIS School of Fashion and Design.

Held at National Gallery Singapore, this is the second time that the MDIS School of Fashion and Design-Nottingham Trent University’s Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Fashion Design graduates showcase their works at Singapore’s iconic fashion event.   Nottingham Trent University is one of the most established fashion schools in the UK, and world-renowned for creativity, innovation and design excellence.

BLUMEX: Empowering Young Female Executives through Fashion

Between April and June 2017, Year 2 degree students in Fashion Design from MDIS worked with Blum & Co. to conceptualise and create ready-to-wear womenswear for young working professionals, while students from Fashion Marketing and Branding developed marketing strategies to promote the new line, including effective retail layout and displays, and revamping existing and new retail outlets.

“Blum & Co. was at a point of inflection; we knew we needed to innovate to keep ahead of the retail evolution and so, BLUMEX was borne. We are proud to partner with the MDIS School of Fashion and Design to foster real-world, industry experience for students. The works showcased today were experimental, vibrant, young and confident; everything we wanted to communicate with our new label, BLUMEX,” shared Ms Jessica Chee, Marketing Director for Blum & Co.

Designed for the modern Asian women of today, each piece for BLUMEX exhibits feminine empowerment. The collection of 48 contemporary designs, comprising of tops and bottoms; jackets; evening wear; and even cheongsams, will be sold at the Blum & Co. flagship store at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands from November.

MDIS School of Fashion and Design

The MDIS School of Fashion and Design is the most recent academic addition to the disciplines MDIS offers. The School nurtures a new generation of creative professionals in the specialisation of Fashion Design, Marketing and Branding by delivering a globally recognised education through teaching excellence.

Through its hands-on approach, the school integrates the conceptual, cultural, visual, practical and commercial aspects of fashion into its course module, allowing students to gain both theoretical knowledge and industry experience in the work of fashion.

To meet with the global fashion industry’s demand, MDIS is offering undergraduate programmes together with our world-renowned university partner, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

  Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom

Nottingham Trent University is of one the largest universities in the UK with a thriving student population of over 25,000.

Founded in 1843, the School of Art and Design is one of the most established in the UK. As a flourishing, multicultural community, Nottingham Trent University has gained a world-renowned reputation for creativity, innovation and design excellence. The School makes a major contribution to the cultural life and to art design all over the world.

The University is ranked 5th in The Guardian University Guide 2017: League Table for Fashion and Textiles.

Blum & Co.

Blum & Co. understands successful corporate women’s needs for individuality and exclusiveness, hence its designs are produced in limited quantities yet in a wide variety of styles and choices. The value of Blum & Co. lies in its excellent craftsmanship and extremely ultra-chic and versatile work wear exuding elegance.

Growing in the Fashion Apparel industry since 1992, Blum & Co. is now the leading fashion label in upper-middle to high-end executive wear. With an objective to cater to professional and managerial women, Blum & Co. has established itself as an admired company in Asia’s fashion scene, offering apparel of unique styles and designs.

Blum & Co.’s range of ladies apparel includes business suits, dresses and parties gowns. New designs and styles with unparalleled attention given to the toning of fabric, shades of colour and cut are launched weekly so that customers can always rely on Blum & Co. for the latest trends in fashion at moderate prices.