We love Bianca Chong. In fact, we’ve been following her work since she first made it public with her end of career project from the London College of Fashion. Her collection, “Re-Articulation”, consists of an assortment of moving pieces, fashion artefacts, with such beauty and subtlety that we were left amazed and, of course, convinced that she would be the one to turn heads at International Talent Support. Check out her interview here.
Having recently won the YKK Fastening Award at ITS, So Catchy! Where Fashion Begins sat down with her again to find out what she’s planning for the future.
SO CATCHY!: How do you feel after winning the ITS YKK Fastening Award?
BIANCA CHONG: I am very happy for winning the ITS YKK Fastening award! I feel like this is my biggest achievement I have made. It is also an assurance of my design approach on using a new way, a mechanical way to create a design with a functioning product. I am still very excited for making the zipper mechanism works, I tested the mechanism repeatedly until the last minute it works!
SC!: What did the jury say about your collection?
BCH: They said that I create a completely new way to use a zipper, and I have made a good balance between the technical aspects of a zipper and the artistic aspects of a fashion accessory.
SC!: Tell us about the clutch with zippers that you presented at ITS
BCH: Zipper has always been used as a functional opening for different things. In this project, I want to create a leather clutch which not only used a zipper as an opening, but also makes the zipper have the ability to trigger motion in the elements of the bag. I would connect the zipper onto a gear mechanism so that when the zipper is moved, it composes circular motion in the small disc on the front of the leather flap, thus opening the bag.
Two acrylic discs of different sizes and distance to the center, is placed on either side of the bag. The zippers are placed on a straight plane on the top of the bag so that when the user pulls the zip, there is a transfer of horizontal motion (zipper sliding) into circular motion (disc rotating).
Circle is used as the main shape in the components because of its property being a closed curve with no ending point, which coherent with the circular motion it generates.
SC!: What are you going to do with the prize?
BCH: I would use the prize to create a collection of more commercial collection when I start my own label.
SC!: What are you doing now?
BCH: I am currently preparing to participate in a few more different competitions to train myself to think in different ways while working part-time to support myself.
SC! Do you plan to open your label’s online shop anytime soon?
BCH: When I came home, my friends keep urging me to start my own label. I am so glad that they are so supportive and in fact this is something that I always wanted to do. I hope that I could create a commercial collection in 2016!
Photography: Eva Huang – Wei Photography Hair
Makeup: Chia-Ying Wu
Styling: Ball Ball Chiu
Translation and Layout by Michael Padilla
