Fashion, Food and Famous Celebrities: Get Ready for KL’s First GREAT Week!

I’m delighted that Alison Collingridge, our Prosperity Promotion Manager, has agreed to write a guest blog on the amazing events taking place in KL next week.

Alison has worked tirelessly for over a year to bring the very best of British to Malaysia – the new London Routemaster bus, specially commissioned Minis, one of our top fashion designers and a world-renowned British chef. I can’t wait for the week to begin! We will be uploading exclusive content on our Facebook page and on Twitter using #GREATKL. Over to you Alison…

Fashionistas and Foodies are in for a real treat with the launch of the first ‘GREAT Week’ in Malaysia!

The centrepiece of the GREAT week will be the KL Fashion Weekend from Thursday 14 November till Saturday 16 November at the Esplanade in KLCC Park.  For the first time, UK Trade & Investment and the British High Commission have partnered with Tourism Malaysia, the organisers of KL Fashion Weekend, to showcase on the catwalk a selection of British fashion alongside Malaysian retail brands.

This is open to the public so please come down and have a look.

We’re delighted that GREAT Ambassador and iconic British fashion designer Zandra Rhodes CBE will be in Kuala Lumpur to support the campaign and officially launch her exhibition ‘A Lifelong Love Affair with Textiles’. The exhibition is being held in the National Textile Museum from 13 November to 13 January 2014.

The Finale of KL Fashion Weekend on Saturday will feature Miss World Malaysia 2012, Yvonne Lee, modelling one of Zandra Rhodes unique creations!  Zandra Rhodes will also be taking part in KL Alta Moda and will showcase her latest collection to an invitation only audience.

We’re also honoured that GREAT Ambassador and celebrity British chef Gary Rhodes OBE will be in KL to support our GREAT Week. He will be taking part in a High Tea with Zandra Rhodes at the Majestic Hotel on Friday 15 November. The Majestic Hotel will be working with Gary to launch a special 3-Course Rhodes Menu for a limited time period.

Over the last eight-weeks, stores across KL have been running an in-store promotion and contest designed to promote the British retail sector in Malaysia. The grand prize was a fantastic shopping trip to London and three nights stay in a top hotel suite with £1,000 of shopping vouchers. There were also five other grand prizes worth over RM15,000 to be won.

On Saturday 16 November, Zandra Rhodes and Gary Rhodes as well as Datuk Jimmy Choo OBE will attend an exclusive GREAT KL Fashion Weekend VIP After Show Party at the British High Commissioner’s Residence. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy Gary Rhodes signature canapés and see some of Zandra Rhodes designs as well as meet the British celebrities themselves. The guests will be joined by 60 lucky finalists of the Shopping is GREAT contest and we will announce at the party the six top prize winners!

For over a year we have been planning our GREAT Week in Malaysia.  The project started off as a simple idea to support and promote British retail in Malaysia. However, thanks to the ideas and support of all our sponsors, participating retailers and retail malls it has grown to be a much bigger spectacle.

Not only will the GREAT Week be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate all that is great about British fashion and creativity, it will also deliver a significant boost to our Prime Ministers’ joint target to double trade between the UK and Malaysia from £4 billion to £8 billion by 2016.