By Sulyn Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Kalima Textile has emerged as the winner of first-ever Selangor Fashion Accelerator programme, taking home a total RM6,000 cash prize and a My Gaya Month showcase booth worth RM10,000.
The event, which came to a close yesterday during the Selangor Smart City and Digital Economy Convention (SDEC) 2022 that ran concurrently with the Selangor International Business Summit (SIBS) 2022, saw S.leapita and BatikTEKTURA coming in second and third place, respectively.
A demo day was also held during the event that was launched by Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari’s wife Datin Seri Masdiana Muhamad, who is also the Selangor Women’s Welfare and Charity Organisation (Pekawanis) president.
Organised by Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy (Sidec), the programme aims to assist Malaysian startups and small and medium entreprises (SMEs) in developing a sustainable ecosystem for talents in the modest fashion sector by providing engaging experiences that will increase brand recognition in the market and industry.
The Selangor Fashion Accelerator was themed ‘Modest Fashion’ and focused on ready-to-wear (RTW) modest attire with a modern twist and minimalistic elements and had featured six finalists pitching their business to a panel of judges.
The panel of judges include multi-award-winning singer-songwriter and entrepreneur Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, co-founder and president of Malaysia Bumiputera Designer Association (MBDA) and founder of Rasta Creation Rasta Rashid, chief executive officer of Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB) Raja Ahmad Shahrir Iskandar Raja Salim, co-founder and general partner of ScaleUp Malaysia Aaron Sarma, chief merchandising and marketing officer of Aeon Low Ngai Yuen, creative director of Variante Leslie Variyan and creative director of Lagenda Creative Collection Wong Lee Leng.
The finalists also showcased three designs from their collection during a runway show segment after an intensive two-month programme.
The programme saw fashion entrepreneurs and SMEs benefit from experienced mentor guidance and comprehensive workshops that led them to investment and expansion-ready levels.
Additionally, the Selangor Fashion Accelerator received over 80 applications when it first launched and only 16 were shortlisted with six chosen to advance to the final demo day yesterday.
SDEC is one of the largest regional smart city conventions in Southeast Asia hosted by the Selangor state government and organised by Sidec with its co-organisers Smart Selangor Delivery Unit (SSDU) and Eurocham Malaysia.
SDEC runs concurrently with SIBS 2022 that began on Thursday (October 6) until today (October 9) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
