The Asian Young Fashion Designers' Contest 2006

"My collection is not boxed in by any norm or trend. It's a euphoric expression wrenched from my aesthetic psyche," thus quipped fashion's enfant terrible Edwin Ao, the Philippines representative to the recently concluded Asian Young Fashion Designers' Contest staged at the prestigious City Square Raffles in the chic city of Singapore. A heightened state of euphoria indeed is what he experienced. The reason? Among hundreds of hopeful young designers who laboriously presented their collection, Edwin Ao was the unanimous choice! Thus, the trip to Singapore to receive the most coveted award. Other participating countries were China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Rewind to a few years back: he bagged the title as a finalist to Mega Magazine's Young Designer Competition and then as one among five who represented the country in Paris for the International Young Fashion Designers' Competition (Concours International des Jeunes Createurs de Mode) the year after. Thrice blessed and quasi-talented, Edwin Ao submitted an entry that was absolutely free from the frou frou of rudimentary trends. True to its name and working around the theme of "Changing Patterns," he dished out a quirky mix of fabrics, hues and silhouette. Utilizing the conventionality of dark wool and the fragility of stripped and dyed jusi, the work resulted in a collection that distinctively bears the Edwin Ao stamp of couture, worthy of this visionary's accolades.