From Couture to Read-to-Wear: Malaysian designer Jovian Mandagie for Zalora.sg

My Lebanese genes must have something to do with it but I just love couture!

In fact, there’s nothing that gets my heart pulsing quite as much as slipping into a custom-made couture creation which I have been lucky to have had on a few occasions.

But while couture can be the most sumptuous thing you could ever wear, sadly it almost always comes at a hefty price tag which not many people can afford, especially the young fashionistas.

However someone seems to be doing something about it, namely up-and-coming Malaysian designer Jovian Mandagie.

Love this look from Jovian's 'Femme' collection!

EXCLUSIVE interview with Haute Couture designer Maurizio Galante

Maurizio Galante, as he describes himself at one point during this interview is ‘crazy’! What else can you call a man who makes a dress out of thousands of red seeds, each painstakingly punched to create holes for threads to be woven together and is then topped off with an angel-like bolero made of majestic feathers?

It is kinda surreal and out of this world!

Interviewing him has left me in awe, reminding me why I fell in love with fashion in the first place at 7 years old - staying awake at 10pm to watch one of Elie Saab’s couture shows on TV and try to recreate them for my doll the next day from scraps of fabric - which I tore from my dresses or leftover fabric from my mom’s latest custom-made frock.

It was love and it became an obsession. Something stronger than me, that even after an education and career unrelated to fashion I had to take a turn and share it through this blog.
So how can I not, when presented this rare chance, interview one of the very very few Haute Couture houses founder in the flesh? Sitting next to him and his business associate (his co-designer for non-fashion objects and talented artist in his own right Tal Lancman) I was transformed back to that little girl, daydreaming about his surreal creations which are wearable art pieces, so inspiring and genuine, a world’s apart from vanity dressing and fast changing fashion trends.

A dress which took over 700 hours to make, a precision and technique which needs an OCD person to practice and an armchair made to resemble cold marble when it’s in fact inviting and comfy. You can never expect what’s next from Maurizio Galante who will be in Singapore for his show at the French Couture Week later this month at MBS The Shoppes.

Photos don't give justice for the amazing detailing of Maurizio Galante's
bloleros. The red flamingo one (right) is apparently the best sold item
and even celebrated architect Zaha Hadid owns one!

Bonjour Beirut: Missak HajiAvedikian’s fun take on couture

What happens when you mix, great couture aesthetics, strong heritage influence and a hint of fun together? You get Beirut’s newest  enfant terrible Missak HajiAvedikian.

The minute I entered the Armenian Lebanese designer’s showroom in the middle of the hussly bussly Armenian center I knew I was getting something different, more authentic and candid in a way.

Missak has a great sense of humour which translates even in his most dressy gowns. He does fashion for fun and you can see it through the feathers, unusual bird cage silhouettes and scattered laser-cut butterflies. He is not one to shy away from drama or experiment and this is exactly why I fell in love with his avant-garde designs.

It's obvious when you see Missak's playful creations that he has a
lot of fun making them. I love this dress!!

Bonjour Beirut: Azzi and Osta and the battle against bling!

If the national dress in Singapore is hotpants and t-shirt, Beirut’s is a ball gown!

It’s a nation where one popular saying is ‘borrow money to dress up’, seeing someone dressed up to the nines just to cross the road to the grocery shop is not an uncommon sight. In some places you have to see it to believe your eyes!

It’s no surprise that there are dozens of designers specializing in evening wear and glamorous dresses. From  Elie Saab, to Rabih Kayrouz and Georges Chakra.

While some designers go seriously OTT and bling it like there is no tomorrow, others, namely the new generation, have stuck to a much more modern and stylish approach to glamour – understated elegance.

The perfect example of such designers and probably the forerunners for such style are Georges Azzi and Assaad Osta, whose label Azzi & Osta is gaining popularity and changing people’s views on what is glamorous in Beirut.

A breath-taking bridal creation from Azzi and Osta

Blueprint Singapore: 7 emerging labels to lust after

And so it’s over in flash. Singapore’s biggest week of fashion was over far too soon.

And despite the AFF shows stealing the spotlight last week, there was one event which I was very keen on attending: The Blueprint tradeshow.

Unlike the emporium, the tradeshow is not a place to shop but it’s a closed exhibition for labels and buyers to interact; and for emerging designers to bag some regional or international stockists which would help their labels grow.

As a member of the media (who got selected invites), I was present on Thursday and Friday and it was one of the most interesting events I’ve been to in Singapore so far. I got to discover and spot some amazing Asian and emerging labels which have all what it takes to be the next big thing.

New Indonesian label TOTON simply blew me away at Blueprint...
From clothes to accessories and shoes, every piece looked stunning!

My fashion icon of 2011: Fan Bing Bing

It’s been a long time since I’ve been inspired by a celebrity’s red carpet style. Whether at Cannes or the Oscars, every year I see the same risk-free gowns worn by the same people who look ‘pretty’ but lack the WOW factor.

The only celebrity I’ve been interested to see her red carpet appearances was Tilda Swinton. Not that I’m a fan of her baggie eccentric dresses but I respect her individual sense of style and her risk-taking which is a breath of fresh air in the lookalike Hollywood crowd.

However, this year I do have a fashion hero who - unlike Tilda Swinton - would definitely have her closet raided by me. And she is none other the beautiful Chinese actress and singer Fan Bing Bing.

Fan Bing Bing pulling off an impossible look in head-to-toe Louis
Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week