An elated Chiu Yu-hang (left) walks with the model showcasing his award-winning design in Milan; posing with his design and instructor Portia To (right top).

Winning an international design competition means more than just a prize for Chiu Yu-hang, a higher diploma student of the Vocational Training Council's Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI).

Not only was he the first entrant from Hong Kong to win the coveted international award, but his victory also strongly enhanced his relationship with his family, particularly his father who objected to his ambition to be a designer.

Carrying the Hong Kong flag, he won the Gold Prize of the International Fur Design Competition held in Milan on March 6 this year, beating some 40 young designers, including professional designers, from around the world. At 21, he was the youngest candidate among the eight finalists.

His award-winning design was a chic, unique fur coat entitled "Withered Tree" with four sleeves. Senior government officials Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau both sent him commendation letters to congratulate his success.

Chiu, now 22, will graduate from HKDI this summer. In September, he will pursue a one-year top-up degree course in fashion design offered by The University of Nottingham in the U.K. on a full-time basis. The course will be held in Hong Kong, with tutors coming here from Nottingham.

Sponsored by the International Fur Trade Federation, the international design competition was first held in 2003. Previous winners had come from Germany, Italy and Russia, and the only previous Asian winner came from Japan.

Initially, Chiu had to compete with students from design schools in Hong Kong to win the full fur category and the Best Sketch Award of the Hong Kong Fur Design Competition. There were 350 entries and 33 of them were selected and made into fur coats to enter the international competition.

Winning the local competition qualified him as one of the last eight of 40 entrants from 18 countries and regions. Only the eight shortlisted designers were invited to fly to Milan for the final competition.

Quiet, polite and softly spoken, Chiu said the theme of his fur coat was "withered tree" and he got the inspiration for the design when he came across a photo of a withered tree as he prepared for the competition.

"The grains and contours of the pine tree deeply impressed me," he said. "The photo provided me a great deal of inspiration and prompted me to use it as the theme of my design."

He made use of the lines of natural fur and the dark grey tone layering to trim the fur into wavy lines to represent the contours of trees. The two pockets on the upper part of the fur coat were the eyes of the trees. It was the innovative, out-of-the-box concept that made his entry stand out from the others and helped Chiu to take the top prize at the international design competition.

"Traditionally, all clothes have only two sleeves. I intentionally made four sleeves to give a carefree, graceful look. Perhaps the judges were impressed and thought the four sleeves interesting," he laughed.

"To me, this was my personal triumph because I was the sole person who initiated the concept and handled the design work. Since it was the first time I came across fur, I had sought the advice of my instructor, who has experience in handling fur," he said.

Chiu admitted he was more than happy to take part in the local design competition, saying: "I was stunned to know that I could go to Milan."

The final competition in the Italian fashion capital took the form of a fashion show, with models wearing the coats designed by the participants and parading the catwalk.

"It was a very large-scale fashion show," he said. "Upon announcement of the results, the model and I felt very nervous. After the 1st and 2nd runners-up were announced, I only knew I had won when the other people pushed me. I could not hear the result clearly because it was announced in Italian."

Portia To, a senior lecturer at the HKDI's Department of Fashion & Textiles who supervised Chiu, said fur was very expensive and that the students rarely came across the material. Given the design competition had commercial sponsorship, she encouraged Chiu to take part and gain international exposure.

Recollecting his boyhood days, Chiu said he liked drawing and drawing on the walls. After completing Form 5, he wanted to enroll in a fashion design course but his family objected, saying design was an abstract thing.

He applied to HKDI after finishing Form 7. He only told his parents after he was admitted, telling them that HKDI was the only institution that admitted him. "My father reluctantly said okay but I knew he was not too happy," Chiu said.

But his father's attitude changed after he won the competition. "Seeing I was genuinely interested in design, he began to show his support," he said. "He was very happy that I won the prize. When I returned home, many relatives greeted me at the airport. My father, who used to be a very solemn person, had tears in his eyes. The scene was unforgettable."

(HK Edition 06/19/2009 page4)