Dato' Sri Bernard Chandran (Tamil: பர்னார்ட் சந்திரன்) (born 27 February 1968) is a Malaysian fashion designer. Chandran used to be known as Malaysia's "Prince of Fashion", but is now being hailed as Malaysia's "King of Fashion". Chandran is also a Malaysian television personality. He has been known as the chief designer of the reality television show Project Runway Malaysia, since its debut on 8TV on 3 August 2007. Chandran was a guest judge on Britain's Next Top Model, Cycle 6, Episode 12. The top three models were given a chance to model for Chandran's fashion show during the London Fashion Week. Early years Bernard Chandran was born to Mr. P. Ramachandran and Mrs. Chow Yook Lin. Bernard Chandran is of both Indian and Chinese parentage (commonly referred to as Chindian in Malaysia). He grew up in an average Malaysian family. He initially studied fashion in a local fashion college known as International Fashion Training Centre (IFTC) in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. During his time at the college, he was known for his shyness backstage around the undressed models during his initial fashion shows at the local college. Given three months after graduation to prove himself, he arranged his debut solo show, taking the first steps on the road to becoming Malaysia's top designer. Bernard's father was won over and helped fund his son's further studies, with Bernard soon winning a place at the prestigious Paris Fashion School in Paris, France. In 1991, he joined the 'Open European Contest for Look of the Year 2000'. Chandran won and broke the record of being the first non-European to win the coveted title. "The contest was gruelling," grinned Bernard. "I am so happy to be the first non-white winner as it proves that Asians are as good as anyone else". For his pains, Chandran received a camera, 19 000 francs, and publicity and contacts, which opened doors. Fashion business In the industry After working in Paris, he returned to Malaysia to set up his maiden shop in KL Plaza in 1993. The first 'Bernard Chandran' couture house was a small, rented shop with a handful of staff in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. From there, he built up his client base amongst the who's of Kuala Lumpur, ranging from the rich to royalty. He has now expanded his shop in KL Plaza to take up 4 shop lots and is nearly 300 square