CATEGORIES
Keeping The Faith
When you’re tasked to carry on the legacy of one of modern fashion’s most revered and revolutionary womenswear designers in the face of an industry in flux, sometimes the bravest move forward is to go back to its fundamentals. Gordon ng reports on the debut of pieter mulier at the house of alaia.
Higher State Of Consciousness
Bodycon returns to the runways though – in these times ripe for social change – it seems to be more about endowing a sense of strength and protection than outright seduction. Gordon Ng reports on the surprising ways designers have embraced the female form this season
A Mini Encyclopaedia Of Future-Proof Curios
AKA the fall/winter 2021 trends that foretell what’s going to matter most in fashion (and the world)
...BABY, ONE MORE TIME
IT’S SEXY (CROPPED TOPS, LOW-SLUNG WAISTS, MICRO-SHORT HEMLINES). IT’S “AESTHETIC” – THINK A MISH-MASH OF INFLUENCES, POPS OF COLOUR, AND IRREVERENT ACCESSORIES AND LAYERING.
Just Perfect
Eight of our favourite home-grown models show off the pre-fall collections in their natural beauty – no hairstyling, no makeup needed.
A Safe Space
In recent years, some of the local fashion labels that have found the most popularity and commercial success might seem to share some things in common: designs that are minimalist and practical, and an emphasis on versatility and comfort. In fact, so consistently do these terms pop up across interviews with their founders that we can’t help but think: is this the emergence of a definitive singapore style? Rebecca Rachel Wong finds out from four names putting their own spin on the genre.
The Joys Of Being Pure At Heart
The definition of “diversity” according to the Cambridge dictionary: “the fact of many different types of things or people being included in something; a range of different things or people”. In collaboration with chanel fine jewellery, female shows how the brand’s signature coco crush collection – now expanded to include pretty, diamond-studded toi et moi rings made up of two overlapping “c”-shaped bands with the line’s distinctive quilted pattern – stacks up.
So You Say You Want A Revolution?
For anyone who’s said that the local fashion design scene is staid and conservative, meet the emerging labels that are upending streetwear, how it’s retailed and the face of singapore style with their punk attitude – as sported here by their very own muses and fresh faces on our modelling scene.
Somatic Therapist Chole Chotrani On The Healing Power Of Dance
The Manila-born, Singapore-based Chloe Chotrani is a practitioner of somatic therapy – an increasingly popular alternative form of healing that’s premised on how past traumas can inflict stress and pain on the body. She was also formerly trained in ballet and involved in the street hip-hop scene back home in the filipino capital for over a decade. Here, she tells us how dance can be good for one’s physical, mental and emotional well-being especially during manic times like these.
Fredrik Tjaerandsen, Catching The Eye Of World's Most Directional Luxury Fashion Houses
Fluidity, constant movement, no boundaries. Meet the Singapore creative who’s been catching the eye of some of the world’s most directional luxury fashion houses with her moves.
The Club Is Not Dead
The pandemic’s put a pause on nightlife here, making many hang up their dancing shoes for now. It’s hard to deny though how its institutions are also creative spaces where fashion, music, art and design intersect; and many influential ideas, collaborations and cultural movements have been born. Keng yang shuen gets industry veterans and scenesters from across generations to pay ode. Now, who’s ready to dance again?
Play '90s Guitar With Beabadoobee
She’s the Filipino-born British musician (real name: Beatrice Kristi) who – with only one self-written album and a whole lot of self-possessed cool – has helped to reintroduce the decade’s alternative sound and style into the mainstream. To think she was born only after it had ended, what with her turning 21 this month. You ready to rock?
Self Made
Self Made
DIY Style
Crafting (be it professionally or as a hobby) has become one of the biggest trends since the onset of the pandemic: we’ve been spending more time in; its elements of tactility and slowness soothe in a manic world; and have you seen the amount of crochet on the runways recently? Here, four Singapore artists – each with her own fashion-related discipline – share a project that lets one create something to add to the wardrobe at home.
Finding Fido (Sorta)
The great outdoors remain a respite in these times and Fendi’s latest capsule line Vertigo – a collaboration with the New York artist Sarah Coleman – seems tailor-made to quench that thirst.
Pick A Character
There’s a pragmatic quality to the trans-seasonal pre-fall 2021 collections, but inspiring some of them are figures – real or imagined – whose lives are the stuff of fantasy. Who do you want to play?
Cook From Home
In a year of work-from-home, private dining has become arguably F&B’s biggest and boldest movement. Keng Yang Shuen meets three of the chicest players here and gets them to each dish out a recipe for an instant taste of theirs.
Do The Catwalk...
...With Chanel’s super model of luxury timepieces, the J12. In collaboration with the french maison, female and our new (and similarly black-and-white) feline friend Jobi strike a pose.
Beauty Products That'll Guarantee You That Hot Girl Summer
From skincare essentials that help one’s complexion beat the heat to flirty makeup colours that get one into the mood, here’s a curation of new-in-town beauty products that’ll guarantee you that hot girl summer (even if you can’t hold that raging pool party).
The Quest For Bright Eyes
In the quest for younger- and better-looking eyes, dior has found a breakthrough: the new capture totale super potent eye serum. It’s got the brand’s highest percentage of natural-origin ingredients in an eye product ever, and boldly promises to make you look four years younger in just four weeks.
Search For ‘Cinderella's Slippers'
Did you know that Chanel’s two-tone slingbacks date back to 1957?
Kindred Spirits
From a platform connecting charities and social causes with creatives to a design studio which has mushrooms (yes, fungi) as its primary medium, the eight emerging creative names spotlighted here share the same pursuit as us: challenge the way people see and think.
By Your Side
Drawing on its knack for innovative shapes and effortlessly modern design when it comes to watches and jewellery, Cartier debuts the Double C de Cartier – a leather shoulder bag that proves that the maison might just also be a master of fashion. Ladies, take note.
Wonder Vision
The crystal specialist Swarovski celebrated its 125th anniversary last year with the bold announcement of the fashion plate Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert as its first-ever creative director. This month, the full range of Collection 1 – her debut comprising a dazzling 14 sub-collections – gets released here, along with a new unified brand (you don’t have to try discerning between its different divisions any longer) and boutique concept as bombastic as the jewellery itself. Gordon Ng gets her to share the marvel that she has in store.
Ties That Bind
One year after an assured debut in the world of makeup, Hermes is now revealing its second offering: the Rose Hermes range of blushers. Gordon Ng reports on the art, science and community behind it.
Call Of The Wild
If the original Pocket bag that Burberry introduced last year embodies heritage-made timeless – cue its leather-trimmed canvas make and structured, squarish shape inspired by a shopper from the archives – the Soft Pocket is its independent-minded grown-up sister. With an idiosyncratic trapezoid shape, it’s crafted entirely in calf leather, lending both pliability and a tough edge. In collaboration with the British luxury house, Female introduces four content creators – professional or accidental – with an equally nonconformist streak to watch out for.
A Love Story
Even before he started his holy grail of a namesake website and Instagram account expounding on the world of luxury fashion, Bagaholicboy – designer bag connoisseur and long-time collaborator of Female – made it his quest to demystify the allure of the Chanel 11.12 handbag. Together with the French maison, Female gets him to share about his fascination for this iconic design and how he got a legion of others to love it too.
What Really Goes Into The Making Of A Dress Or Bag?
What really goes into the making of a dress or bag? With the pandemic spurring fashion houses to put the focus back on community and craft, Gordon Ng zeroes in on some Spring/Summer 2021 releases that prove that sometimes, it really does take a village (or going back to one).
A Tribe Called Quest
Behind many of Rolex’s iconic designs are some of the world’s bravest adventurers. Gordon Ng reports on the legacy of the Swiss luxury watchmaker’s enduring support of the explorer community.
Willabelle Ong - The Girl Who Does Everything
Many would classify Willabelle Ong as the archetypal ’90s-born content creator made good. With her work spanning polished, artfully composed Instagram photos of herself showing off the latest fashion must-haves; Tiktok videos that reveal her to be quite the cheeky comedienne; and large-scale abstract expressionist canvas paintings, one can also call her a Renaissance woman for the post-social media age. That and the perfect personality to show off Chloe’s pragmatic-meets-poetic runway pieces for Spring/Summer 2021 meant to evoke feminine strength and hope. Female and the French label put her in the portrait seat.