If thereâs one designer who seems to know how to get women shopping, itâs Han Chong, the founder and creative director of London-based fashion label Self-Portrait.
Here, he tells Noelle Loh how he and his brand are keeping the joy of dressing up alive.
As we write this, the latest Self-Portrait girl can be said to be Carina Lau, the 59-year-old actress who starred in its Lunar New Year campaign this year that paid homage to the Hong Kong TV dramas many â including the label's creative director Han Chong â had grown up with. Before her, it was Emily Ratajkowski â or whom Han refers to as Emrata â who fronted the brand's pageant-inspired Resort 2025 campaign and was suitably dubbed Miss Self-Portrait. Back in Spring Summer 2024, that title, so to speak, went to Blackpink's Jisoo, who was the face of the brand that season with her effortlessly ethereal Korean beauty.
One takeaway here? Yeah, the privately owned Self-Portrait, founded by the Malaysia-born, London-based Han in 2013, has achieved some serious commercial success to be able to splash out on such high-powered celebrity marketing. According to a December 2024 article in Forbes, it has 80 points of retail globally, including several stunning stand-alone boutiques. The other major observation is the degree of diversity at play here. None of the three names share much in common except for their megawatt influence, mother status and the fact that all wear Han's accessibly priced designs.
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GET OUT!
If you think shopping is boring now, these five brick-and-mortar businesses in Singapore, all of which opened in the past year or so, will make you change your mind.
HOW THEY SPEND IT
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, \"luxury\" refers to \"something expensive which is pleasant to have but is not really necessary\". Eight Gen Zers tell us what their first luxury purchase was, and what their relationship with luxury is.
these artists are present
All in their 20s, the six artists spotlighted here â all of whom are Singaporean or call Singapore home â are who we think you should be keeping your eye on and collecting now. What are the realities they face and what do they really hope for as artists? Keng Yang Shuen finds out.
harder, better, faster, stronger
This month, corporate Raffles Place will get an unlikely and ultra-groovy new inhabitant: the 6,114sqft Rasa, which touts itself as a âcommunity space for arts, music and cultureâ, and is the brainchild of local techno and nightlife legend Kavan Spruyt. Keng Yang Shuen finds out from the man and some of the co-conspirators he has roped in â marketing and music head Cindy Tan, creative designer Efy Ramdan, and Chris Shearmon of Wild Pearl, which will help to curate some of the programming â on why this new venture is much more than a club and nothing like what Singapore has had before.
MORE OBJECTS OF DESIRE
For the latest edition of its long-running partnership with Design Miami, Fendi has selected the fast-rising London-based designer Lewis Kemmenoe to put his spin on its signature Peekaboo bag as well as create an accompanying line of furniture.
golden girl
Art has long been in Dior's DNA (fun fact: in 1928-way before becoming a couturier - Christian Dior opened and ran his own gallery that specialised in avant-garde artists of the time). The annual Dior Lady Art project has helped to keep this torch going since its launch in 2016, with renowned international artists invited to put their spin on the maison's most famous bag, the Lady Dior. The latest edition that hit boutiques here recently features collaborations with 11 names. Among them is superstar Canadian painter Anna Weyant, whose Dutch masters-inspired and moody yet humorous portraits of pretty young women were discovered on Instagram in 2019, then sold out in her very first show. Since then, they've fetched as much as more than US$1 million (about S$1.36 million) at auctions and, in 2022, she became the youngest artist to be signed by the Gagosian. Here, a succinct interview with the 29-year-old on herself and what she has designed for Dior.
pushing the needle
The year 2024 marked the 100th anniversary of Lesage, the seminal embroidery house that's a go-to among fashion's greatest couturiers and the maker of Chanel's ultra-exquisite tweeds. As the atelier enters its 101st year, Noelle Loh - following a visit to the Lesage, 100 Years Of Fashion And Decoration exhibition, on at Chanel's Le19M complex in Paris till Jan 26 - breaks down how it continues to revolutionise the hand-done art of weaving and beading.
magic pixie dream girl
With her soulful sound and heartfelt, brutally honest lyrics, the 16-year-old Singapore singer-songwriter known as Mila Bea could very well be our next-gen indie rock goddess and every Gen Zer's best friend. Keng Yang Shuen shines a spotlight on her and her craft.
rainbow brights and starlight
To take its makeup into the future, the house of Chanel has embarked on an unlikely journey with a trio of edgy, independent-minded women it calls the Cometes Collective as its heroines. Its task: to continue brand founder Gabrielle Chanel's mission of dreaming up colours that bring out one's elegance and allure. Nearly a year after the release of the initiative's debut collection, Noelle Loh meets Ammy Drammeh, Valentina Li and Cecile Paravina in London to find out how they're expanding Chanel's beauty universe.
