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COVER STORY<br />
of it,” Gina enthuses. “Come to think of it, the first city<br />
that influenced me a lot in terms of fashion is London,<br />
as I explored British fashion, and that’s why I decided to<br />
register the business as Gina Frias London.”<br />
Conquering <strong>The</strong> Design World<br />
Today, Gina focuses more on designing haute couture<br />
dresses for Gina Frias London. According to her, the<br />
expansion towards more than accessories came about<br />
rather organically. “I was doing Axxezz fashion shows at<br />
KLCC and Mid Valley Megamall but had no clothing<br />
to present, and had to make dresses out of Axxezz’s<br />
scarves,” she tells us.<br />
Gina started making clothes to go with her accessories<br />
for fashion shows, where members of the audience would<br />
ask to buy the clothes too. From there she started designing<br />
fancy costume masks, where one of her highlights included<br />
a collaboration with uber designer Zang Toi for Mercedes<br />
Fashion Week. This got her designing dresses to go with<br />
her masks and headdresses.<br />
She was soon making frequent appearances at<br />
international fashion weeks including Melbourne Spring<br />
Fashion Week 2016; London, New York and Paris<br />
Fashion Week 2018 and also brand launches with Viviene<br />
Westwood, Just Cavalli, DSquared2, Marni and Maison<br />
Margiela. One thing led to another and soon Gina won<br />
an award for ‘Fashion Designer of the Year 2019’ at<br />
the Global Short Film Awards at the 72nd Cannes Film<br />
Festival held earlier in May last year.<br />
Her collection was showcased at the prestigious<br />
international film event where one of her pieces was<br />
worn by Miss World Cyprus, Adriana Fiakki, on the<br />
official red carpet. <strong>The</strong> elaborate dress, a fantastical<br />
crystal embellished gown, is one of the many gowns<br />
currently on display at her mansion at Tropicana Golf &<br />
Country Resort in Petaling Jaya, which also houses her<br />
headquarters. Her dresses and designs not only serve as<br />
unique decor and a reminder of how far she has come,<br />
but also as inspiration for future endeavours as Gina gets<br />
started working on her collection for <strong>2020</strong> Fashion Week.<br />
TM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY <strong>2020</strong><br />
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