[NEWS] Crowne Plaza Unveils Winners of Dressed to Rest Design Contest on World Sleep Day

Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts has crowned the ultimate winners of its Dressed to Rest design contest at finale events which took place in India, Japan, Singapore and the UAE, coinciding with World Sleep Day (14 March).

Mai Takemori from Raffles College of Higher Education claimed the title of the grand winner in Singapore followed by Juliana Ng also from Raffles College of Higher Education and Choi You Mi from Temasek Design School who claimed the 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up prizes respectively.

The Singapore finale was held at Crowne Plaza Changi Airport and saw ten aspiring design students local design institutes bring to life their shortlisted sketches by creating the sleepwear mock-ups. The ten shortlisted sketches had been selected by a combination of public votes and an expert panel of judges, including Theresa Pragasam-Sidhu, Director Brand Management, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Lucy Mary Jones, Head of Department/Principal Lecturer, Fashion Studies, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Samuel Wong, Founder & Creative Director, evenodd and Eugene Baey, Head Coach, Sleep Easy Centre Singapore. At the finale, models donned the sleepwear designs in an exciting fashion showcase in a runway, followed by an interactive question and answer segment where the design students presented their sleepwear creations to the judges. To determine the Grand Winner, the designs were judged on overall style, originality, comfort and consistency with the Crowne Plaza brand logo and colours by the judging panel.

Theresa Pragasam-Sidhu, Director Brand Management, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts said, “We have been very impressed by the quality of the designs and how much the students have understood about how to balance both form and function. At Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts, it’s important our guests get a great night’s sleep so they’re rejuvenated and ready for a hard day’s work. Being able to create that comfort factor, yet look stylish at the same time was the major challenge of this competition and the grand winners have really delivered. I’ve been extremely impressed by the level of talent and creativity in all the designs.”

Judges provided feedback to the students to help with the development stage of the competition that included details on sleep ergonomics, materials and fabric and design insights to help with the final production.

“It was interesting to see how all the design students transformed their sleepwear design creations from sketch to actual garments. All of them put in tremendous effort, especially since the students took part in Dressed to Rest above and beyond their current school curriculum. Special recognition goes to Mai Takemori for her exceptional cutting, and I am looking forward to seeing the sleepwear at Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts in the future,” commented Lucy Mary Jones.

In addition to valuable experience to kick-start their careers in fashion, the winning designers received a host of prizes including SGD500.00 cash, 50,000 IHG® Rewards Club points and an internship opportunity with evenodd (Grand Winner), SGD300.00 cash and 40,000 IHG® Rewards Club points (1st Runner-up) and SGD200.00 cash and 30,000 IHG® Rewards Club points (2nd Runner-up).

Speaking about being crowned the Grand Winner in Singapore, Mai Takemori said, “This is my first time designing sleepwear and Dressed to Rest was a really unique opportunity and a chance for me to challenge myself by putting my design skills and knowledge to the test. I took inspiration from my own personal style and incorporated elements of Crowne Plaza into the design while taking into consideration the needs of the hotel guests and how they can get a restful sleep while travelling.”

The Crowne Plaza Dressed to Rest Design Contest received hundreds of entries through its Statigram contest page using #DressedtoRest and received thousands of public votes. A winning design from South Africa has already been chosen, as part of a sleepwear competition which took place in partnership with South Africa Fashion Week. The competition continues with a ‘Dressed to Rest’ design search in Australia beginning in March. Ultimately, there will be a six-piece collection of Crowne Plaza sleepwear designs – one from each of the diverse markets.

For more information on Crowne Plaza Dressed to Rest contest, please visit: http://statigr.am/contest/pyzw/crowne-plaza-dressedtorest-contest.