The 32nd Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers' Contest (YDC) will be held 12 January 2009, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). About 200 entries were submitted for the contest, with 19 finalists showing their collections before a panel of judges today.
Four Awards will be presented at the contest: Overall Winner; Casual and Jeans Wear Group Winner; Contemporary Day Wear Group Winner; and Party and Evening Wear Group Winner. The judges will focus on creativity, marketability, workmanship, fabric suitability and overall appeal.

Presiding over the high-profile judging panel is Vincent Fang, Chairman of the HKTDC's Garment Advisory Committee. To help raise the contest's profile internationally, the organiser has included two fashion-world stars as this year's VIP judges: Ennio Capasa, Head of Design at CoSTUME NATIONAL, and Japanese designer Keita Maruyama.

Italian designer Ennio Capasa studied for years in Japan after graduating from Belle Arti Academy. His collection defines inimitable style: essential and sophisticated, intellectual and creative.

Starting his design career as a costume designer for musicians and actresses, Keita Maruyama released his debut collection in Tokyo in 1995 and, later, in Paris. His style is subdued and simple with classical flair and floral prints that feature the seasons.

Other panel members include: Anthony Keung, President and CEO, Fenix Group Holdings Ltd; Deborah Cheng, Marketing and Communications Director, IT Ltd; Kwong Lung-kit, Editor-in-chief, Men's Uno; Lulu Cheung, Fashion Designer; Ning Lau, Head of Marketing and Communications, Joyce Boutique Holdings Ltd; and Sarah Ruston, Fashion Designer, Lane Crawford.

Apart from the 19 finalists, the designs of five former YDC winners will be featured under a "Symphony of Nature" theme. The five YDC alumni are: Coney Ku, Sherry Kwok, Michael Lau, Kevin Ng and Baldwin Pui.

The YDC provides a spotlight for Hong Kong young designers, while bringing a variety of design talent together, including photographers Lewis Ho and Gary Mui, graphic designer Calvin Ho (Atomic Attack), video producer Tak Hung, fashion show producer I-DNA, and the trophy and judges' mementos' designer Wong Kwok Chung.

Hong Kong Young Designers' Contest 2009
Finalists
Casual & Jeans-wear Group Energy Released Wan Ming Yan, Renus Generation Nomad Wong Wing Sze, Agnes Generating Chow Man Ki, Dorothy Be Fabulous On The Street Leung Wing Man, Queenie Street Diviner Wong Yu Ming, Phoebe Simulative Life Chan Tze Keung, Michael Contemporary Day-wear Group DIWHY? Mak Ngar Tuen, Prudence Light Through Lens Lam Yeuk Hei, Alice Rely On! Luk King Hei Life As A Nomad Tung Sin Man, Ronnie Futuristic Mist Ho Pui Yan, Daphney Alien-Experimentalist Yip Lai Yin, Ivan Somewhere Pressed For Chu Shuk Yan, Yen Party & Evening-wear Knot Theory Wong Wai Ming, Summer Message Chan Kwok Sum, Ferrundo Hidden Beauty Chan Wai Yee, Jennifer A Present From The Past Lee Ka Yan, Stevie Modern Shanghai Lady Ng Yuen Yi, Gerr The Moribund Corouis Leung Wing Sum, Sumbei