STYLO President and CEO Datuk Nancy Yeoh at the launched of STYLO Fashion Grand Prix KL 2010; Pavilion Shopping Mall, Kuala Lumpur.
Photos by Chow KF (click for bigger picture) 

Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's biggest fashion event; STYLO Fashion Grand Prix KL 2010 will return for the third consecutive year to celebrate the upcoming 12th Malaysian Fl Grand Prix season. Hosting for a total of 8 days, the fashion festival campaign is one of the official events under the KLGP City Formula 1 calendar.

STYLO Fashion Grand Prix KL 2010 carrying a strong environmental message "RECYCLYING IS THE NEW BLACK" and the festival theme "Fashion to Art, Art to Fashion: The 7 Deadly Sins" will be presented by Mercedes-Benz.

STYLO aims to bring the environmentally-conscious Fashion and Art theme to life. More than 100 artists led by Philip Wong collaborate with STYLO and the National Art Gallery to construct 28 giant sculptures which will be place in various tourist hot spots around Kuala Lumpur.

"With the issues of global warming and other natural catastrophe brought on by neglect to our Mother earth, we felt that it was important that this issue be raised at every avenue possible. Therefore it seem like a good opportunity for us to spread the message via this festival, hence the theme Fashion to Art, Art to Fashion," said STYLO President and CEO Datuk Nancy Yeoh, while witness the signing of memorandum of understanding with a media partners and host of important industry associates.

"The items used to construct these sculptures are everyday items that we typically throw away as garbage. We decided to express our concerns for the environment in the form of art sculptures made by recyclable wastes material in the guise of fashion items," Yeoh added.
 

As such, the theme has adopted by STYLO for its designers to bring the creations to life on the fashion runway. The official event staged in several locations within Kuala Lumpur and will feature the collections of over 70 fashion designers and 100 artists. Besides veteran fashion designers from the Malaysian fashion scene, this year's STYLO will also introduce a host of new and upcoming avant-garde designers in its line-up.

Fashion sculptures was unveiled recently at the Pavilion KL and to stay for the duration of the fashion festival are seven characters in the guise of a stiletto, a button, a bag , a necktie, a pair of sunglasses, a necklace and a dress constructed purely from carton boxes, magazines, tin cans, plastic, newspapers, and fabrics.

"With the support of the National Art Gallery and the determination of Philip Wong we have been able to recycle much wastes material and turn them into works or art, measuring 2.5m to 6.5m and weighing 30 kg to 100 kg each. That's a lot of wastes recycled into giant fashion sculptures to beautify our city in the run up to the Formula 1 in Sepang", she said.

According to Yeoh, the sculptures represent a myriad array of human emotions - Greed, Pride, Lust, Sloth, Envy, Gluttony, and Wrath ie. the 7 Deadly Sins of Mankind which have contributed to the deterioration of the
earth.

In a bid discover further new talents, the inaugural 'Mercedes-Benz STYLO Emerging Designer of the Year 2010', an avantgarde design competition will hold its finals during the fashion GP. The entry to design competition is open to all final year students from major fashion schools in the country.

Fashion GP showcase kicking off on 25 March; fashion bodies such as MODA (Malaysian Official Designers Association), BDA (Bumiputra Designers Association), Islamic Fashion Festival and independent Malaysian designers also will be featured in the 8 days of fashion festival which will ends on 3 April 2010.

The official venues are the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, the National Art Gallery and the Asian Heritage Row. Visa is the official card for fashion festival.

Festival featured with great prominence this year is avantgarde designer, Marko Mitanovski, whose high profile clients include amongst others, Lady Gaga will be flown in to Kuala Lumpur with his team of stylists presenting "The Lady Macbeth" at it's finale, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Awards and at the Mercedes GP Petronas Fl bash. Presenting his showcase at STYLO are collections comprises for Lady Gaga during her Monster Ball world tour.

Festival will highlight STYLO featuring one of the newest avant-garde discoveries from London Fashion Week's "ONES to WATCH". For the first time in STYLO, 3 of the country's most influential master hair designers. Andy Ho, Lois Lee and Winnie Loo will showcase their collection interprets "The 7 deadly sins' version onto the runway.
 

The Hair Couture gala presented by VISA will be STYLO's initiative and tribute to the hair styling industry. This is an attempt to wow the audience and tone their fashion designer counterparts which have done over the years;

Featured with great prominence this year is New York based make-up giant, M.A.C and its army of highly-trained artists supporting efforts throughout the festival. Together with Malaysian designer Michael Ong's ready to wear line; `Casanova' making debut at this festival and also Kavita's resort wear collection.


Partners and sponsors of STYLO Fashion GP KL 2010 include Pavilion Kuala Lumpur; Asian Heritage Row, National Art Gallery, Philip Wong, KPMG, M.A.C, Caran d'Ache, PJ CAD,' Denise Wines, Heineken, Fraser Place Kuala Lumpur, OEKO Furniture, Lois Lee, Andy Ho Haute Coiffure, A Cut Above, Lois Lee, Toni & Guy Hairdressing, Centro Hair Salon, Hair Connection Salon & Academy and Imagine IF Events. RAPR Mileage Communications is official publicist.

Media partners include The Edge; New Straits Times; NTV7; ASTRO; the Star's latest product, Mingguan MStar; The Daily Chilli; Bernama TV, The Malay Mail, Malaysian Reserve and Focus Media Network (Focus TV); Prestige Malaysia and Expatriate Lifestyle.