"Design A Bag Competition 2008" attracted some 200 entries from professional designers and design students around the world. Unlike other competitions the entire process - from initial design to final judging - is conducted on-line.
Entrants are offered an opportunity to distinguish themselves as specialists capable of creating designs to international standards, and gain exposure in a very demanding market. Creativity and innovation are essential within an ever changing and competitive environment.
In 2007, 3 design students from the ESAM School in France, one from the School of Design of the Hong Kong Poly U and 3 professional designers from Hong Kong were selected for their creativity among more than 200 drawings sent from 100 countries. This year again, the response has been outstanding: over 200 design students and designers from Australia, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, The Philippines Turkey, UK, USA and even Venezuela...have submitted their drawings on the following themes:
FIT: Smart casual bag for urban lifestyles
PARTY: Evening bag for fun and special occasions
THE MALEBAG: Bag for male, handy, practical, long lasting, multi functional and occasion
DREAM TEENS: Bag for teenagers
Winners will be selected by professional judges from the fashion industry and awarded - and here we switch from the 'virtual world' to the real one - a trip to the Awards Presentation Ceremony held at Fashion Access March 2008 in Hong Kong. Cash Prizes of USD500 - 1500 will be presented to the winners in the various categories.
The general consensus from judges was that the overall standard was extremely high and demonstrated the level of creativity and innovation. "It's fantastic to realise that many of the drawings seem to be from very young designers and so being. They express wonderfully refreshing ideas by mixing new materials and colours", commented Ms Maria Novais, Spanish buyer of Inditex.
The pre-selected designs are on display in the Convention Foyer at Fashion Access throughout the exhibition, and the winners of 4 categories will be officially announced at the APLF Award Party on 1 April 2008.
For more information on Design Access, the competition,
please visit
www.designaccess-fa.com - 
For more information on Fashion Access, please visit
www.aplf.com -
Press release
APLF