"10 Asian Designers to Watch" Exhibition
Karmuel Young (BA, 2007)
Wilson Yip (BA, 2015)
Karmuel Young's capsule collection: Project 06: Same But Not The Same
Wilson Yip's capsule collection: TRULY BEING ALIVE
Karmuel Young (BA, 2007) and Wilson Yip (BA, 2015) have been selected as "10 Asian Designers to Watch", an initiative that celebrates the creativity, innovation and craft of emerging talents in Asia and their pioneering capsule collections.
The judging panel was comprised of well-known fashion industry leaders such as Amiee Squires-Wills, former Vice President of Marketing & Communications of Lane Crawford; Deborah Cheng, Chief Commercial Officer of I.T; Desiree Au, Founding Publisher of Vogue Hong Kong; Grant Pearce, Consultant of GQ Australia; Lulu Kennedy, Director of Fashion East; Sophie Brocart, LVMH Prize Mentoring Director of LVMH and more.
Karmuel moved to Europe and worked in renowned brands Damir Dona in Paris and Ute Ploier in Vienna after graduation from BA (Hons) Scheme in Fashion and Textiles (Fashion and Textile Design) in 2007. He was the finalist of PolyU Fashion Show 2007, awardee of Prestige's "40 under 40", and also the finalist of Lane Crawford’s 2019 Creative Call Out. Following the experience of working as an independent designer, he established his own menswear label, KARMUEL YOUNG, in 2014. His design is engineered to embody minimalism and modernity and answer both operation and aesthetic needs.
Echoing its predecessors, his Project 06: Same But Not The Same, features previously used geometric shapes coloured in a mélange of natural and metallic hues. Seemingly simplistic yet intricately sophisticated, the expanded collection innovates variations among a sea of conventional styles.
Wilson majored in knitwear design in his undergraduate study. He was the winner of the Overall Grand Award and Outstanding Menswear Award of PolyU Fashion Show 2015. He launched the brand Wilsonkaki in 2020 after being crowned the Champion in Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest in 2019. The brand is inspired by real-life experiences. He reinvents everyday wardrobe staples and signature in strong visual elements with thoughtful utility design.
Wilsonkaki exhibited the Spring/Summer 2022 collection, themed “TRULY BEING ALIVE”. It is inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s quote, “someone has a great fire in his soul”. Wilson defines what being alive is through the collection – he attempted to visualise the belief using the imagery of fire.
Previous ITC alumni winners include Derek Chan (BA, 2011) of DEMO. and Joyce Kun (BA, 2013) of The World Is Your Oyster.
To celebrate the birth of 10 rising Asian stars, and shares a piece of their minds, full of white hot burning energy, the "10 Asian Designers to Watch" Exhibition was held from 30 November to 7 December in Central. Virtual exhibition is also available.
