Underground, misfit, weird, and 100 per cent wonderful that way. Way before such attributes became Gen Z buzzwords, the DJ/boutique owner/nightlife impresario was steadily living and dressing up by them. Fresh off the launch of his art book Freakdom, he gathers some of his pals to talk alternative style, youth culture and what it truly means to be an individual.
“There has never been a club kid culture in Singapore.” This coming from Bobby Luo might seem a tad surprising. Besides being a DJ, independent party organiser and owner of cult multi-label boutique Super Freak, the 48-year-old is best known for co-founding the madcap, now defunct 2000s nightclub, The Butter Factory, and the colourfully outrageous outfits he tends to wear on nights out.
It’s led to him being tagged – probably too often – a club kid, a reference to the counterculture tribe of experimental, fashion-obsessed youths who ruled New York’s underground party scene in the ’80s. After all, it’s easy to foist uncalled-for labels onto others and let appearances dictate impressions. The soft-spoken Luo, however, would like this clarified.
“When we started (The Butter Factory), we adopted some of the key Club Kid sensibilities such as freedom of expression, the embrace of diverse identities and (the curiosity of) exploring characters,” he says. “(Strictly speaking though), there isn’t really such a scene here. If anything, we’re too busy being individuals!”
Club Kid or not, individualistic sums up the baby-faced man’s aesthetic and MO to life. For this year’s Pink Dot gathering, for example, his outfit included a top fashioned out of a gaggle of Pink Panther stuffed toys that recalls what Lady Gaga would wear in her early years. But while even the said Lady has toned down and slicked up her image these days, Luo continues to do his thing.
His current project: the reinvention of his five-year-old boutique at Orchardgateway. Originally named Superspace and solely carrying fashion labels like Bernhard Willhelm and Tata Christiane, it now also boasts areas for art, music, gifts, and a thrift marketplace with everything emblematic of independent culture – think statement costumes designed in collaboration with local creatives.
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GOOD VIBES
EVERY YEAR, CHANEL PICKS A PLACE ON THE WORLD MAP NOT ONLY TO INSPIRE, BUT ALSO TO SHOWCASE ITS ANNUAL CRUISE COLLECTION (IT’S A TRADITION THAT’S ROOTED IN THE MAISON’S EARLY YEARS WHEN COCO CHANEL PRESENTED A LINE OUTSIDE OF THE USUAL FASHION CALENDAR TO INCITE WANDERLUST FOR TOASTIER, MORE PICTURE-PERFECT CLIMES DURING THE WINTER MONTHS). THE LATEST DESTINATION: VIBRANT MARSEILLE – THE FRENCH CITY THAT RECEIVES THE MOST SUNSHINE; HOME TO AN ECLECTIC REPERTOIRE OF CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND LANDMARKS; AND A MAGNET FOR EMERGING CREATIVES WITH ITS MIX OF GRIT AND GLAMOUR, LAND AND SEA, AND YOUTHFUL BOHEMIAN ENERGY. THE RESULTS? A COLLECTION THAT MAKES US WANT TO LET LOOSE AND DANCE. NOELLE LOH REPORTS FROM THE PHOCAEAN CITY.
THE PARTY EDIT
Club-appropriate hits from the Resort 2025 collections
THE VIPS
SOME OF THE 17 PEOPLE SPOTLIGHTED ACROSS THE NEXT 26 PAGES HAVE BEEN IN THE NIGHTLIFE BUSINESS WAY BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC DECADES EVEN. OTHERS LESS, BUT HAVE BEEN FOR MUCH OF THEIR LIVES DEEP INTO MUSIC, VIBING IT OUT ON DANCE FLOORS AND MAKING SURE EVERYONE AROUND HAS A HELLUVA GOOD TIME. THEIR ENDEAVOURS RANGE FROM A MODEST NEIGHBOURHOOD BAR TO CONGLOMERATE-BACKED, MULTI-CONCEPT SPACES AND A MULTIFARIOUS NETWORK OF POP-UP PARTIES, ALL OF WHICH HAVE BEEN MAKING AN EXTRA-LOUD SPLASH IN THE PAST YEAR. WHAT ELSE THEY ALL HAVE IN COMMON: THEY'RE RETHINKING AND RESHAPING PARTY CULTURE FOR THE FUTURE - OR, TO PARAPHRASE CHARLI XCX, THEY'RE BUMPIN' IT. KENG YANG SHUEN AND NOELLE LOH PUT THE CAMERA FLASH ON.
THE NIGHTS
ROUGHLY TWO YEARS ON SINCE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, FOLKS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE ARE STILL TAKING IT UPON THEMSELVES TO THROW THEIR OWN INDEPENDENT PARTIES WITH MORE EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS, AND MORE INTENTIONAL AND INCLUSIVE EXPERIENCES THAT INJECT A ROUSING UNDERGROUND ENERGY TO SINGAPORE NIGHTLIFE. KENG YANG SHUEN TURNS THE SPOTLIGHT ON FOUR OF THE NEWEST ORGANISERS ON THE SCENE AND TELLS YOU WHY YOU SHOULD HIT THEIR PARTIES.
THE SOUNDS
THEY'RE ALL UNDER 30, MOSTLY SELF-TAUGHT AND EMERGED PROFESSIONALLY ONLY AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. MOST DON'T EVEN HAVE A REGULAR GIG (YOU'D HAVE TO CHECK THEIR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS TO FIND OUT WHEN NEXT THEY'LL BE PERFORMING), BUT DON'T YOU DARE CALL THEM BEDROOM DJS. KENG YANG SHUEN SPOTLIGHTS SEVEN EMERGING SINGAPORE-BASED MUSIC SELECTORS AND MIX MASTERS WHO'VE BEEN TEARING UP DANCE FLOORS IN THE PAST YEAR AND SHOULD BE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY.
SHE CALLS THE SHOTS
SINCE THE 2000S, RIHANNA HAS BEEN MAKING DANCE FLOORS WORK, WORK, WORK WITH HER INFECTIOUS ELECTRONIC AND R&B-INFLECTED POP HITS. FOR ANOTHER SIDE TO HER \"QUEEN OF THE NIGHT\" PERSONA, THERE'S HER ROLE AS THE LATEST FACE OF DIOR'S J'ADORE PERFUME AND ITS ACCOMPANYING CAMPAIGN FILM. SHOT BY HER LONG-TIME FRIEND STEVEN KLEIN, IT FEATURES THE BARBADIAN BADDIE STRIDING THROUGH THE GILDED HALLS OF THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES DRIPPING IN GOLD. HERE, SHE SHARES MORE ABOUT HOW THE FAMOUSLY FEMININE FRAGRANCE EMBODIES CELEBRATION.
A Not So Common Scent
For the first time, the singular house of Hermes has launched a chypre perfume fragrance type known for its complexity and dualistic nature a that comes in a first-of-its-kind bottle, no less. Keng Yang Shuen finds out more about Barenia, Hermes's latest scent that hit stores recently, from the brand's in-house perfumer Christine Nagel.
Strange Love
The six names in this story create wildly different works that tend to blur the boundaries among disparate disciplines. All have little in common except one thing: a certain wondrousness and sense of curiosity that inspire audiences to look at familiar things anew. Keng Yang Shuen reports.
The artist
Johnny Depp is certainly far from the conventional leading man: the iconically quirky on-screen roles, the rock musician persona (he was a guitarist before becoming an actor), the unexpected neoexpressionist portraits in 2022 (these paintings of cultural heroes ranging from AI Pacino to Elizabeth Taylor sold out in a day), and of course the title of being Dior's long-standing poster boy for its wilderness-inspired flagship men's perfume Sauvage for nine years and counting.
spirited away
Collaborations with the art world have become a trusted way of injecting novelty into fashion.
