Chin (front row, in light brown suit) and Belleview Group’s assistant general manager Brian Ho (front row, in dark blue suit) with the FOAC finalists after the prizegiving ceremony.
TRENDSETTING was taken to new heights in the northern region of the country as the Kedah Fashion Week (KFW) saw its first model scouting event.
Drawing young talents from all over the world, the competition was a milestone for KFW that was in its ninth year.
The search, called Face of Aman Central (FOAC), was held in Aman Central shopping mall in Alor Setar, Kedah.
Over 20 finalists showcased their looks, catwalking skills, personality and inner confidence during the competition.
In the first round, they strutted on the catwalk in official event T-shirts paired with Edwin jeans.
They did their best to impress in the second round while donning New Era looks, before closing the evening with their own chosen styles in the final round that was themed “Red Carpet”.
Mall visitors also had the chance to see some of Malaysia’s fashion mavens, who served as competition judges.
These included actress and former beauty queen Rozita Che Wan and notable fashion designers Amazae, Seth & Luna, Khuntumn, Asyraff Arrif and Anuar Faizal.
Catwalk guru Benjamin Toong also had his eye out for the entrant with the best runway sashay.
Adding a dash of excitement to the event was vocal powerhouse Idayu Yaakub.
Aman Central assistant general manager Ken Chin revealed that the model scouting was a way for the mall to drive up its engagement with customers and followers of its social media channels.
“We were looking for a model for our upcoming 2024/25 publicity campaigns,” he said.
“We undertook this initiative to explore the effects that the FOAC would have.
“Next year, we plan to have a series of campaigns to celebrate KFW’s 10th year, which will be themed ‘A Decade of Evolut10n’.”
Chin expressed hope that the model search would continue to set Aman Central apart from other malls.
“It would also have enabled Aman Central to contribute more to Kedah’s tourism industry and economy, with a focus on uplifting the local fashion scene,” he said.
The first FOAC saw the coming together of several big names in retail and fashion.
Chin said the event was made possible by BMW Lee Motors, Tomei, Watsons, Runway Productions, New Era, Carlo Rino, Edwin, Cosas United, Eco Optic, Star City Hotel Alor Setar, Sense3 Hair Studio, Swarovski, Barbara Flower Shop and Ecobrown.
Each grand prize winner – one female and one male – walked away with RM10,000 cash and event sponsor merchandise that included Tomei jewellery and Edwin wardrobe items.
They were also signed up for a modelling course by Runway Productions and will become the “face” of Aman Central’s 2024/25 publicity campaigns.
Three subsidiary titles for the model with the “Best Catwalk”, “Most Influence” and “Most Confidence” were awarded alongside the grand prizes.
Swarovski bangles and New Era cash vouchers were given to the subsidiary title winners.
Participants who made it to the runners-up spots also walked away with sponsored merchandise.
