Zeng Ran-feng, a 4th year student of the Department of French recently entered an ELLEgirl t-shirt design competition. With a background in French, this was her first time dabbling in design, and with 60 plus entrants in the competition – many of whom have professional design-related backgrounds – her ambitions were nothing if not modest.

However, on the 19th of November, at the competition grand final, Ran-feng was announced as the competition winner. Prizes included a 40,000 NTD ELLEgirl shopping voucher, as well as the chance to take part in the design of the 2011 spring-summer ELLEgirl product line.

Ran-feng described her t-shirt design. Its central feature was a love heart, around which she attached layer after layer of white chiffon, symbolizing love spreading outward. While reflecting on the design process, she explained: “I spent 2-3 days attaching the layers of chiffon to the shirt. It was so tiring!” She also conceded that “compared with all the experienced designers who entered, I didn’t think I stood a chance”. In the instant that her name was called out as the competition winner, she screamed “I don’t believe it!”