Hearte Ho

Hello! I am a final-year Creative Industries Management in Fashion student, and I am absolutely thrilled to be the NextGen Fashion Business Award Runner Up for 2026. My creative approach is rooted in the belief that fashion should be as purposeful as it is beautiful. I am deeply motivated by my Malaysian heritage and the urgent need to address the environmental cost of the linear “take-make-waste” model. My ultimate aspiration is to spend the next few years immersing myself in the business side of the global luxury fashion sector to build my operational expertise, before returning home to turn my visions for sustainable, culturally rich enterprise into a reality.

My award-winning project, Akar Atelier, is a sustainable bespoke tailoring brand that redefines “Quiet Luxury” for the modern professional. The concept was born from a frustrating statistic: while 91% of Malaysians claim a willingness to purchase sustainable products, there is a massive “Green Gap” fueled by a deep skepticism of greenwashing. I wanted to solve this not with better marketing, but with verifiable truth.

Akar Atelier proposes a model of radical transparency. To achieve this, I embedded NFC-enabled Digital Product Passports (DPPs) into the sleeves of the garments. A simple scan allows the wearer to trace the garment’s entire journey, from the artisan who cut the pattern to the carbon footprint saved.

Material innovation and cultural preservation were my primary media. I built the brand’s supply chain around regional, regenerative biomaterials, specifically native Malaysian Kapok fiber for highly breathable suiting and microbial bioleather for trimmings. To ensure maximum material efficiency, the operational model mandates Zero-Waste Pattern Cutting (ZWPC). Furthermore, the collection seeks to “Decolonise Fashion” by subtly weaving traditional ceremonial textiles, like Songket and Batik, into the structural linings of modern corporate suits. It is about creating investment-grade “stealth wealth” armor that allows professionals to wear their heritage with dignity in international boardrooms, completely free of fast-fashion guilt.