CATEGORIES

Return To Innocence?

You’ve heard of the hemline index (its theory: the better the economy, the shorter the skirts). Now what about the beauty index? From a simplification of routines to a renewed focus on some of the most time-honoured ingredients (nothing fancy-schmancy here, guys), Moh Shuying looks at how some of the latest trends in makeup and skincare might reflect today’s state of the world.

A Deep Conversation

This is a shot of marine biologist/ pioneer ocean explorer sylvia earle (she’s 84 years old) taken by another trailblazer in marine conservation, underwater photographer david doubilet. As the seas hit record temperatures and the need to protect it grows increasingly urgent, noelle loh gets the duo – both rolex testimonees (the brand’s speak for ambassadors) – to tell us what you don’t already know about the state of today’s life aquatic.

Talia Ryder Is The Next 17 Year Old Who Is Going To Educate This World

If Greta Thunberg represented a category of people, Talia Ryder would fit right into it: a sophisticated voice on social issues spanning bullying to reproductive rights all packed into a petite 17-year-old. Oh, she’s also the lead in one of the year’s most powerful movies about the realities of modern adolescent life. Keng Yang Shuen discovers the charm of the next teenager who’s going to captivate – and educate – the world.

Ian Griffiths Guide To Staying Upbeat And Strong

In the over three decades he’s spent as the creative director of Max Mara, Ian Griffiths has always imbued his collections for the Italian Luxury label with a sense of positivity. During a recent visit to singapore, the selfdescribed optimist tells Imran Jalal his guide to staying upbeat and strong.

Hall Of Fame

In an age when we’re constantly on the lookout for the next shiny new thing while repeatedly looking to the past for inspiration, Coach has found a happy medium: restore its found archival designs to appeal to vintage fiends; remix said pieces to create one-of-a-kind styles that epitomise “old meets new”; as well as remake them with a modern twist to keep all that legacy going. In collaboration with the american label, female introduces the Coach originals experience landing here this month.

Beyond The Gloss

Joining the shelves of celine, hermes and more of the world’s most well-loved and trendsetting luxury fashion houses: beauty products that go beyond that standard bottle of designer perfume, conceptualised by the very same creative minds behind the clothes, bags and shoes next to them. Aileen lalor delves into the chic evolution of the cosmetics business and what this could mean for you.

The Academy Awards

To paraphrase george orwell, if there’s hope for the future, it probably lies with the next generation. Cynics may dismiss this as the rosy idealism of youth but, hey, that can invigorate the imagination like nothing else – does greta thunberg ring a bell? Keng yang shuen spotlights seven up-and-coming singapore students from different artistic disciplines whose works make us dream once more.

Rock ‘N' Roll Never Dies

Italian maison Bvlgari’s distinctive b.Zero1 collection disrupted the way luxury jewellery should look like when it debuted in 1999 with its graphic, geometrical curves inspired by the colosseum, all created with the brand’s proprietary tubogas technique. Since then, it’s only undergone some of the most modern transformations – from an unexpected mix of materials to that zaha hadid adaptation. So how does a rebel celebrate turning 21 this year? Get its most daring makeover of course. Dubbed b.Zero1 rock, this update boasts a nine-piece unisex line comprising rings, pendants, earrings and bracelets – all are easily identifiable by the studs across their central bands. As if that’s not bold enough, the yellow gold versions are girded with outer layers of pave diamonds and their pink gold counterparts with black ceramic. In conjunction with the line’s launch this month, female and bvlgari spotlight four local personalities who too have always played by their own rules and defied conventions.

Fiona Fuss - Singapore's Next Leading Actress

Meet Fiona Fussi the femme fatale spy, bond-worthy bombshell and old Hollywood ingenue all adorned in the latest pieces from the world of high jewellery. Meet Fiona Fuss, Singapore’s next leading actress. Noelle Loh goes in for a close-up.

The Lightness Of Being

And the award for the most bouyant collection of the season goes to...Issey Miyake with the debut of its new creative director Satoshi Kondo

Beauty From Within

Nope, this isn’t a story about going makeup free or some new goop-y, all-natural skincare craze. This is a story about bacteria – in fact a whole community of it – that lives on your skin and how brands are betting big on it to keep you looking pretty. Chia ying na delves into the curious world of microbiome beauty.

An Open Letter To Virginie Viard

Unassuming, steely cool yet sentimental, the artistic director of Chanel brings a hip and inspiring human touch to the french Luxury Maison. Noelle Loh pens her a personal note after experiencing her cruise 2020 debut in Paris. An open letter to Virginie Viard

Look Youthful For The Holidays

This Christmas, treat yourself to tighter, plumper and youthful-looking skin with Thermage FLX Skin Tightening treatment.

Scents For Every Personality

Make a statement with this range of unique fragrances from Ange Gardien Paris.

What The Female Team Is Into Now

1. Polyamide coat, Balenciaga

Why Debbie Harry Truly Embodies The Punk Spirit

The septuagenarian, (still) platinum-haired progenitor of Punk Chic Debbie Harry releases a memoir recounting her “very full” life as a cultural trailblazer this month. Music journalist Kevin ho reflects on how she truly embodies the punk spirit.

Riot Grrrl Culture And Its Relevance Today

Amanda Lee Koe has been making waves with her stylish debut novel Delayed Rays of A Star, which imaginatively tracks and expands on the Ives of screen legends Marlene Iietrch, Anna May Wong and Leni Riefenstah As anyone who has read her works would I kely attest, Koe's characters tend to stray outside orthodox societal constructs, a trait that the colourful author shares and isn't afraid to speak out on. Hardcore punk she is not, says the 31 year old New York based Singaporean, but she did go through a riot grrrl phase in her teens and is "aligned with the • importance of individual freedom and radical female agency". (1h, and she oyes Joan Jett and Patti Smith.) So when she was recently back in Smngapore to promote her book, Keng Yang Shuen caught up with her to talk about her riot grrrl roots and how the punk inf uenced subculture st resonates with her.

Race Against The Machine

Perhaps it’s a reaction against the turbulent times that we’re living in (or we’re just secretly hankering for the return of alt-chic circa the 1990s). The biggest message on the fall/ winter 2019 runways: punk – or at least the look of it – is far from dead. Keng Yang Shuen highlights the anarchy and its loudest players.

First Of The Gang

Before Ginette Chittick became the fashion-forward indie queen of the local creative scene with her playful textile art works, britpop dj nights and shoegaze band astreal, she was part of singapore’s first all-girl punk band psycho sonique. here she educates keng yang shuen on singapore’s early punk scene – and what it meant for women then and now.

A Star Is Born

Her music can be described as post-post-pop punk and she has such a non-conformist, fashion-it-yourself punk attitude towards her image that by the time you read this, she might be on to a whole new look altogether. Keng Yang Shuen attempts to get into the head of Singapore's most visually arresting art pop chanteuse.

Collective Minds

To fully express their creative vision, these youths are banding together with like-minded friends, gathering their own resources, and writing their own rules. Some might call them anti-establishment. We call them the voice that singapore fashion needs to hear more of now. Keng Yang Shuen reports.

This Is Us

It’s the italian luxury label that millennials can’t get enough of, and that might have something to do with its pan-generational, omnidirectional creative director’s fashion philosophy: that identity is a personal construct, and clothes and accessories indeed maketh the man. Imran jalal previews gucci’s f/w ’19 collection in bangkok and singles out the pieces with the biggest personality.

The Shape Shifter

If fortune indeed favours the bold, bottega veneta looks set to flourish under the helm of its young and thoughtfully reckless new creative director daniel lee.

The Artist Is Present

She's the independent luxury jeweller who previously refused to be photographed so that her unorthodox designs wouldn't be overshadowed by her pedigree. With her next project, though, avoiding the spotlight could get a lot trickier. Lauren Khoo gets in front of the lens for the first time with female and reveals a side that gives a new ring to her family name: she's pretty freakin' cool.

Shye

Introducing the self-taught 17-year-old making idiosyncratic, gloriously dreamy Pop Music out of her own bedroom and who is quite possibly Singapore's most brilliant gen 1 musician yet.

Feel Beautiful This Festive Season

The doctors from the new Boris Valerie Plastic Surgery tell you five things you must know about botulinum toxin injections, which are touted as the answer to more youthful-looking skin.

Private Dining

The Latest Generation Of Edible Beauty Supplements Go The Way Of F&b Trends: Packed With More Nourishing Ingredients, Artisanal, Even Highly Personalised. Just How Do They Make A Recipe For Great Skin? Aileen Lalor Sinks Her Teeth In.

Brave New World

The Next Frontier In Eco-minded Fashion Labels: Anything But Your Beige, Earth-mother Clothes Of Yore That Score Big On Responsibility, But Zilch On Aesthetics. Keng Yang Shuen Rounds Up Six Rising Names Leading The Charge.

FANCY – THE NEW EDGY

It’s hard to ignore Gherardo Felloni, the mustachioed, opera-trained, antique jewelry-loving Italian who’s behind some of the most playful shoes to have enraptured the street-style set remember Miu Miu’s pearl-studded furry slides?).

Nicola Glass

It’s the American label that offers joyful, playful chic for the everyday woman, but what happens when you don’t just want to be “cute”? Kate Spade's new creative director Nicola glass tells Keng Yang Shuen what she’s adding to the brand’s lexicon.