CATEGORIES

Talking On Miami

Held every December, the international design fair design Miami has always been a heady confluence of fashion and art. For the 2020 edition, fendi – which has been taking part in the show for the past 12 years – roped in new york artist sarah coleman to reinterpret not only its boutique in the city, but also a series of its peekaboo totes. Playing with logos and monograms in her work (fendi’s included), coleman recontextualises the visual language of luxury branding – an approach that gets the thumbs up from silvia venturini fendi. The collaboration is an “opportunity to see how such creativity can evolve”, says the brand’s doyenne. Gordon Ng gets an exclusive from both women on how the relationship between their worlds is more exciting – and important – than ever.

Put Your Best Face Forward This Festive Season

Targeting fine lines and sagging skin, Thermage FLX uses radiofrequency to help boost collagen production to lift and tighten.

Life Is Beautiful

Some might say that the spring/summer 2021 collections are a signal of hope and optimism after a year of social distance and isolation. Key to that: the return of the human touch in more ways than one. Here, an edit of some of the season’s best and most creative craftsmanship that represents the ingenuity of the artisanal hand.

IMAN

IMAN FANDI, THE MULTI-HYPHENATE INDUSTRY DARLING WITH BURNING POP STAR AMBITIONS, DROPS HER LONG-ANTICIPATED DEBUT SINGLE IN FEBRUARY. WE CAN’T SHARE ITS NAME JUST YET; DITTO HOW IT SOUNDS, BUT WHAT WE CAN TELL YOU IS THAT – LIKE THE 20-YEAR-OLD STYLE CHAMELEON – IT’S SIZZLING.

LEEHI

THE SOUTH KOREAN SOLO ARTISTE BRINGS A BOLD AND SOPHISTICATED NEW FACE AND SOUND TO THE GENRE THE WORLD KNOWS AS K-POP. NOELLE LOH GETS CHARMED BY HER MAGIC.

What Does It Mean To Be Asian?

What does it mean to be asian? That question is so large, so vast, that answering it is nearly impossible. The truth is that Singaporeans today straddle multiple cultural identities: our own ethnic heritage, our place in the world as global citizens and our communal sense of a nation. So instead of trying to find an unattainable answer, we went in search of the particular. Image-making has the power of influencing how we view, imagine and define ourselves. Through their work and research, the three Singapore image-makers we spoke to here each deal with specific perspectives of asian-ness. All start unsurprisingly from some place (or something) personal then delve into bigger, more mercurial ideas: the dominance of eurocentric beauty ideals; the challenge of conceiving and creating a postcolonial identity; the fragility of heritage and history in a modern world. And in doing so, each offers a different viewpoint on what it means and looks like to be asian. Gordon NG goes in for a close-up.

The Power Of Joy

K-pop has undoubtedly been one of the biggest cultural exports out of asia and the same might just go for one of the scene’s most popular young female stars of the moment: the chameleonic style icon and multi-hyphenate entertainer joy.

Modern Talking

In 2019, Louis Vuitton introduced its Artycapucines project, which invites leading international artists to reimagine its Capucines tote – named after the Parisian street on which the brand opened its first boutique and known for its extensive craftsmanship. For the second edition – limited to 200 pieces worldwide per design – hitting selected stores (including the one here at Ngee Ann City) on oct 30, the Maison Ropes in for the first time two asian names: Xinjiang-born Zhao Zhao and Beijinger Liu Wei. Here, an exclusive with these chinese luminaries on their art and how they’ve transformed an artisanal handbag into a true objet d’art. Keng Yang Shuen reports.

A Place In The Sun

For the multitude of differences that we ought to recognise and embrace, there are some things that Asian women in general share in common when it comes to discussing matters of the skin. For example, scientific studies have shown that the all-protective, outermost layer of the complexi0n known as the stratum corneum in asian women is thin. We also are more prone to pigmentation because of higher levels of melanocyte activity. At the same time, the region’s humidity means that our sebaceous glands – which asians tend to have more of – can overreact (hands up if oily skin bothers you) while UV rays and pollution levels have made sensitised skin a growing condition here. All launched this year, the products on the next two pages don’t claim to cover the skincare concerns of all Asian women, but they do help tackle some of the most common. And – in the spirit of this edition’s theme – they’re all created by brands with roots in asia. Sofia Kim reports.

Fortune Favours The Boh

Fashion PR, writing, modelling – bohan qiu has tried his hand at all of them. In a way, the Shenzhen-born 26-year-old exemplifies the contemporary fashion multi-hyphenate with his latest turn being the entrepreneur behind boh project, a PR and digital content agency based in Shanghai. Founded last year, the company is already staking a claim in the chinese fashion scene, counting clients that range from giants (calvin klein, selfridges) to emerging names. Among the latter is the fashion and art presentation platform Xcommons, which made global headlines in march for producing a virtual reality presentation for the chinese labels Xu Zhi, Andrea Jiapei Li and Roderic Wong, and garnering over 4.8 million visits within the first day. So who better to speak to for insights into the fascinating, fast-moving and growing chinese fashion industry?

A Fall/ Winter 2020 Collection Report

(And some of the asian models who commanded the season’s runways)

Asia's True Top Models

A diversity report on the fall/winter 2020 runway season by the fashion spot – drawn from 194 shows that took place in the four major fashion week cities – found that 40.6 per cent of models cast were people of colour. In contrast, when the popular online portal started tallying diversity reports five years ago with the spring/summer 2015 season, that figure was 17 per cent. It’s commendable change, some might say – one that reflects the fashion industry’s growing interest in and recognition of the importance of representing a wide range of faces and ethnicities. Based in different parts of asia, the three modelling agencies featured here aren’t just vital players in this revolution; they’re expanding the conversation by championing specifically models from home. Gordon NG finds out how they’re changing the look and perceptions of Asian beauty.

Tiger tiger, burning bright

FELIPE OLIVEIRA BAPTISTA IS REMAKING KENZO FOR A MODERN AGE, TAPPING AS MUCH INTO THE ARCHIVES AS ITS FOUNDING JAPANESE DESIGNER’S ETHOS OF CULTURAL CURIOSITY FOR HIS DEBUT THIS SEASON. GORDON NG REPORTS ON HOW HE’S CONTINUING KENZO TAKADA’S LEGACY.

Home team

LOCAL LABEL BEYOND THE VINES HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE ITS TO MENTION STORES IN FIVE COUNTRIES), IT’S THE ARCHETYPE OF A, ’ INCEPTION FIVE YEARS AGO. WITH AN EXTENSIVE REBRANDING IN SINGAPORE FASHION LABEL MADE GOOD. SO WHO BETTER TO DISCUSS. PROCESS AND A NEWLY OPENED CONCEPT SPACE AT NGEE ANN CITY (NOT THE STATE OF SINGAPORE FASHION RETAIL TODAY? BY KENG YANG SHUEN

On the up

FROM AN IRANIAN MILLINER CRAFTING FANTASTICAL HATS THAT RESEMBLE SCULPTURE TO A GENDER-FLUID HONG KONG LABEL CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL NOTIONS OF MASCULINITY, THE SEVEN EMERGING BRANDS FEATURED HERE SHARE ONE THING IN COMMON: FOUNDERS WITH ROOTS IN ASIA – AND BOLD IDEAS THAT THE WORLD SHOULD KNOW ABOUT. KENG YANG SHUEN REPORTS.

Bringing Clothes To Life Into An Art Form

From models swanning about elegantly – number tag in hand, mere inches from guests in packed-out stores and salons – in the ’50s to christy, naomi, cindy and linda strutting with their arms linked down the versace runway to the tune of george michael’s freedom in 1991, the way one moves when wearing a garment has always been a significant, if underrated, part of fashion presentation. Now, a new league of choreography has risen, and creatives are increasingly elevating the task of bringing clothes to life into an art form. Gordon ng reports.

Are Virtual Models And Influencers Really The Next Frontier In Fashion?

Virtual models and influencers – 3-d creations that exist only in images and software – have begun to obscure the lines of fiction and reality. Gordon Ng reports on what is quite possibly fashion’s next frontier.

Singapore 's Animation Industry Is Small, But Thriving. Here, Seven Artists To Know

If the world of fashion – and content creation in general – is finally waking up to the limitless potential of animation, well here are seven names to know: based in Singapore, they work across a diverse range of styles – 2-d, 3-d, motion graphics and more. By Keng Yang Shuen.

A Whole New World?

The realms of film, music and entertainment have long embraced the diverse medium that is animation and – going by its recent rash of CGI-led content and forays into gaming (yes, gaming) – fashion is raising its stakes in the scene too. The million (make that billion) dollar question: is this simply a trend or will it lead to new horizons? And what does it mean for all of us? Keng yang shuen reports.

The Aesthete Treatment

As we spend more time at home, how beautiful one’s makeup and skincare products look on the vanity table matters as much as how beautiful they make one look. Aileen lalor gets into the aesthetics business of a different sort.

Harajuku Girlsi (And Boy)

Cosplay and fashion may not appear, at first glance, to be natural bedfellows. At their core, however, they share a love for fantasy and good style, both revelling in the metamorphic powers of dressing up. So, in conjunction with this edition’s animation theme, who better to model some of fall/winter 2020’s key runway looks than some of singapore’s most avid fans of the performance art form?

The Doctor Is In

They might not have the same glossy life, stylish instagram content and rabid following as the likes of michelle phan and huda kattan, but a band of myth-busting, info-wielding scientists are fast raking up the “hearts” on social media particularly during these troubling times. Aileen lalor explores the rise of these alternative beauty influencers – and what it could mean for the industry.

Maisie Williams Is Coming

For Eight Years, The British Actress Was One Of Television's Most Beloved Sword-wielding, Baddie-slaying Teenage Anti-heroines. Her Next Big Act: Mutant, Producer, Champion For Up-and-coming Creatives And Possibly The Next Most Powerful Woman In Entertainment And The Arts. Keng Yang Shuen Gets An Exclusive Close-up.

Why Does Community Matter?

It might be one of the words most overused in recent fashion history to help sell a brand or product. But if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that shared beliefs and a sense of belonging can make an impact (and warm the cockles of the heart). Launched in the middle of the excess-loving ’80s, Cartier’s pasha de Cartier was a striking interpretation of the aggressively masculine sporty watches that were taking off at the time. Its case was sumptuously round when most designs on the market were geometric and its can’t-miss-it crown came with an idiosyncratic chain-link cap. This month, it returns to stores – available in 35mm and 41mm in handsome gold or cool steel. And to mark the occasion, the french maison has assembled an unlikely tribe of discipline-spanning celebrity ambassadors whose common denominators are their youth, success and non-conformist streak. Here, an exclusive look at – and message from – this radical pack.

You Say You Want A Revolution?

As with nearly everything else, the fashion industry is undergoing a reckoning and plenty of self-questioning at the moment. How are we going to arrive at answers? No one quite knows, but we thought probing the minds of some of Singapore’s most lucid alternative – and in some cases little-heard – voices on the scene here might help. Keng Yang Shuen reports.

What To Make Of Creative Directors Today?

When tie-ups and three-year-long creative director stints have become the norm in fashion, moncler bucks the trend by hiring the jil sander/phoebe philo-trained veronica leoni (opposite) as the women’s creative director of its 2 moncler 1952 line. (one of only two ranges under the brand’s moncler genius project that’s not by a guest collaborator, it had been designed by the in-house team until her appointment last year.) ahead of the launch of her third collection this month, gordon ng gets an exclusive with this understated ‘insider’b on why a role like hers remains pivotal.

What's The Right Way To Wear Makeup Now?

Fresh out of lockdown, Lucia Pica – global creative makeup and color designer of Chanel – gives noelle loh the exclusive on what now (and next) for cosmetics

Can We Do Without The Hype?

Yoon Ahn is something of a generational definer with a firm place in both the intensely masculine world of streetwear as co-founder of the label ambush and the historically bourgeois realm of high fashion as jewellery director at dior homme. Now, she’s teamed up with bvlgari on a reinterpretation of its signature serpenti forever handbag. Gordon ng probes this extremely in-demand creative’s mind on the future of collaborations and building a business on hype.

What Do People Really Want From Luxury Fashion?

Singapore-based blogger Bagaholicboy, who’s been educating people on how to shop and chronicling “our never-ending quest” for the best designer bags and “life’s little luxuries” on his eponymous website since 2007, gives his take.

Confessions Of A Young Fashion Designer

With an artful eye, a penchant for sculptural silhouettes and an unapologetic flamboyance, recent fashion graduate samuel xun has been lauded as being among the most promising names in his cohort. Here’s what the 25-year-old wants those aspiring to join the business – or who simply want to understand the Singapore fashion scene – to know.