By Chelsey Wong

Sarah Wong’s elegant lingerie collection, Jolie, is designed for a very special group of women: mastectomy patients.

Jolie will be unveiled at 2018 The Show presented by Tamoda Apparel Inc., on April 19 and 20 at Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s (KPU) new purpose-built Wilson School of Design building. The beautiful and innovative $36-million building houses a range of design programs including the fashion-design-and-technology program. Thirty-one other lines by KPU fashion design and technology students will also be showcased.

For event details, visit kpu.ca/2018fashionshow or follow @wilsondesignkpu on Instagram.

Chelsey Wong: Describe your collection.

Sarah Wong: Jolie offers elegant, classic lingerie for women who have received a mastectomy. The collection aims to have her looking beautiful and to help her exude confidence despite challenges faced. Jolie embodies femininity and encourages self-love in every piece.

CW: Who or what was the inspiration behind your line?

SW: Women who are strong and beautiful, inside and out. I really empathize towards this particular target market and I am very much inspired by women in general. I really wanted my line to cater to those women.

CW: Walk me through your creative process.

SW: I knew that my target market wanted styles and colours that are timeless, therefore I knew that looking for the latest trends and colours was not an option. Fabric sourcing really helped me decide on my colour scheme and what fabrics would look and sew well together.

CW: What have you learned at KPU?

SW: I learned a lot about the business aspect of the industry, which is uncommon to learn in fashion-design programs. In addition, learning about how to cater to a certain target market, along with conducting extensive research, definitely helps in figuring out how you are going to go about the design process.

CW: What aspect of design are you most passionate about?

SW: I am most passionate about market research, which is going out to stores and different locations to gather information, photo references, and inspiration for a style, collection, and/or target market. I like to gather a broad range of diverse information and immerse myself in different aspects of design, such as culture.

CW: How do you set yourself apart from other designers?

SW: What sets me apart would be the fact that I am focused and know what I want. At the beginning stages of a design process, I always have an idea or vision of how I want the end result to look and will always make a plan to achieve it. Determination and drive are qualities I posses that help to make my dreams become a reality.

Chelsea Wong is a final-year fashion design and technology student at KPU’s Wilson School of Design.