The Best of the Best Parco next NEXT designers: SS13 launch

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Parco next NEXT and its designers need no further introduction on this blog. The fact that I even have a designated section for them here says it all: I believe in these young designers’ talents so much and I’m always ready to support them whether by writing or shopping ;-)

Last week was the re-opening of this fashion incubator space with a new look – yet no new designers. In fact, it was rather a celebration of 20 of current and previous labels which made it to the ‘The Best of the Best’ list.

The list included some of my favourite designers to come out of Parco in addition to ones I was slightly familiar with before. It was an eclectic mix of ‘commercial’ designs which have proved popular with the public for a few years now and other more directional ones which keep pushing the boundaries and stuck to their ethos. So there was definitely something for everyone.

My only photo from the launch with the talented MASH UP trio whose label
I was wearing. I love this dress! Perfect combination of quirky and chic!

One of the winners was menswear label WSDM whose colourful cardigans
would brighten any dull outfit! Love!

Beauty is in the details for MILS AW13 menswear collection

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 When it comes to menswear I think most of you would agree that it’s all in the details. I mean how many varieties of shirts, t-shirts, trousers or even man-skirts can you invent?

Singapore designer Sunny Lim of MILS demonstrates that perfectly in his latest AW13 collection which plays on details that you’ll have to look closer to admire.

I admit, when I first saw the photos I’ve mistaken the colourful chiffon appliqué details on some of the pieces for acrylic prints. But it was only when I bumped into Sunny wearing one of the shirts that I noticed the intricacy of these details and unexpected texture they added to a plain white shirt.

From its first collection debuted at Parco next NEXT – as part of their incubator program last year – MILS stood out for its interesting take on luxury menswear. Like most of the menswear designers in Asia, he favours a deconstructed look but what sets him apart is that he does it while keeping a certain maturity to the looks or at least the basic pieces like suits and shirts. As a result and despite the overly stylized manner it is presented on the catwalk, the clothes are still very wearable for someone who is looking for alternative twist to his basic wardrobe.

Collar details like this printed chiffon applique take a simple white
shirt to a new level!

At first this looks like a digital print but when you look closer you see
that it is a chiffon piece sewn over the shirt. Cool isn't it?

Midnight in the Garden: Statement handmade accessories for your summer wardrobe

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It seems everywhere I go in Singapore, I keep stumbling upon more and more cool accessories labels popping up from this little island. And of course I'm not complaining :-)

My latest of which is Midnight in the Garden, a vibrant hand crafted accessories label by local art teacher Ade G., who decided to turn her hobby of assembling jewellery trinkets into a small business and most importantly share her creations with the rest of us.

Stocked at one of the coolest accessories shop in town – What Women Want in Mandarin Gallery – I first spotted the label last summer and was drawn like a magpie to the vibrant colours and quirky designs in her collections which stand out immediately. So it came no surprise when I learned that the designer is influenced by her art  training and through combining different element, she tries to play with unconventional compositions to create something very individual about her style.

I love the chic with a twist look of this gorgeous necklace, hand-made by
art teacher Ade for her label 'Midnight in the Garden'

And some bang on trend colourful rings for summer!

What I’ll be wearing this Spring/Summer from Singapore designers

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One of the great things about living in Singapore is being spoilt for choice when it comes to fashion. And I don’t mean by that the availability of big designer and high street brands everywhere you go, but rather the variety of Singaporean designers and labels, who seem to improve each season.

For those who doubt the ability of these talents, this Spring/Summer season will especially prove them wrong. The season has not yet begun but from the collections which have been released so far, a few things have caught my eye already!

From day to occasion dresses, accessories and even swimwear, check out which 5 items from Singaporean designers have hit the spot and made it to my summer list of must-haves. We’re still in March so the list will definitely expand once more collections are unveiled and once I’ve saved enough for the next batch ;-)

This dress from Singapore label Yumumu is firmly on my list this season!

London Fashion Week: Eugene Lin's evolutionary AW13 collection (photos+video)

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When I was first introduced to Eugene Lin’s work – just before he took part in the first Singapore Digital Fashion Week (DFW) – I was truly impressed.

And even though he felt the need to head to London to pursue his dream, his talent gave me even more  conviction that there are many more world class creative gems in the little red dot.

I was initially attracted by the obvious. The breathtaking digital prints which featured in Eugene’s past two seasons collections have been extraordinary. But when interviewing the designer as part of DFW he mentioned to me that it is not something he will keep doing for long so I half expected his latest collection at London Fashion Week might come as a surprise for those used to seeing his stunning prints.

What he actually did was evolution and not revolution. He hasn’t ditched his staples, instead improving on his existing strengths and adding smaller experimental twists which hint at a new direction.

Chinese New Year: an updated take on Jade jewellery

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One of the (many!!!!) things I love about living in Asia is how traditions are carried on from one generation to another.

Take Chinese New Year for example. Despite a largely westernized lifestyle in a city like Singapore, people still celebrate it massively and families gather for a traditional meals and exchange of Ang Pows on the night.

It’s the same with fashion. Instead of starting from scratch, a lot of the upcoming designers have been re-interpreting traditional clothes and jewellery to make them more relevant to their generation and lifestyle without losing their charm and identity.

While in clothes it is mainly cheongsams, in jewellery it has to be jade! Specifically Choo Yilin, a Singaporean designer who is updating staples like the solid jade bangle, ring and Bi (jade disc) to fit into our modern wardrobes.

TSURA: Tribal chic jewellery

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I donno if being a Middle Eastern or travelling a lot had to do with my fascination by tribal jewellery. So much so to an extent that in almost every city I’ve been to, I never left without a statement piece as a souvenir to later add to my ever expanding collection. For me, no piece of dainty diamond encrusted jewellery can match the charm these traditional pieces embody!

But as much as I love my OTT – sometime antique, decades old pieces - bought from rural parts of places like Yemen, Nepal, Iran, Syria and Jordan I do find it hard to pull off on daily basis and I’m always on the look for something slightly more chic and wearable yet still as interesting to go with my wardrobe.

My latest find, jewellery label TSURA takes inspiration from the travels of its HK-born Singapore-based designer Tara Thadani who grew up globe-trotting the world, and provides pieces with are tribal in their theme yet very wearable and chic.

TSURA's Daphne necklace is inspired by tribal potion bottle used in voodoo
practices. Who would have thought black magic could look so chic?

Best of 2012: Bonjour Awards PART 2

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Ok, one last 2012 round-up post (I know I'm late) before I launch back into the usual mix of hunting and profiling Singapore and Asia's coolest labels.

This time I'm giving my Bonjour Awards for best second hand store, best collection and best accessories amongst others. But I also have to tip a nod to my favourite international label from the past 12 months. 

Hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave your feedback in the comments section below. Normal service is about to be resumed...

My focus in the last year has been more on Asian labels but when I
come across something as cool and quirky as the printed dress from
London-based Antoni and Alison, I cannot not share it!

Best of 2012: Bonjour Awards PART 1

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2012 is finally over and luckily for us, the world has not ended!

Evaluating a whole year is never an easy task but everyone needs it so they can move forward and put in place those resolutions which we hope to follow in 2013.

When it comes to fashion, 2012 was certainly an exciting year. Not just in general but more so on the Singaporean scene.

As someone who has spent the last year digging out some great hidden gems around town, discovering new local and regional labels and taking part in some awesome fashion events I have to say it’s been my most fashionable year ever and I never cease to be impressed by the talents I stumble upon every week in the little red dot!

So as I apparently a ‘local expert’ (something I find amusing and untrue), I’ve decided to give out the prestigious Bonjour Awards to my favourite labels, events and boutiques I've discovered in 2012. If you didn't see yourself in this list then don't fret, this is a two part post, with the rest of the winners coming later in the week.

Can't top that: Wearing 2 of my favourite Asian labels which launched
 in 2012, LION EARL (dress) and TOTON (collar).

Bonjour Xmas: Seven stylish gift ideas for the woman in your life

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With less than a week to Christmas Day, time is definitely too short to go out and aimlessly look for gifts for the special woman in your life. 

So if you’ve left your Christmas shopping to the last minute (as most people do), fret not as I’m on hand to help whether your budget is S$15 or S$500.

The great thing about my guide is that each gift is something I would own and thus comes with the Bonjour Singapore seal of style approval. More importantly, every single present idea in this list helps to support and grow the Singapore and Asian fashion ecosystem.  

And for those of you who are feeling lazy (and who are quick on the draw) you can also order most of these gifts online. So you can be super-stylish and awesome from the comfort of your desk or lying in bed at midnight.

Singapore label Foreword's necklace makes a great Christmas gift
for any fashionista!

Of Love and Hidden Charms: My Acting Debut!

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Those of you who follow me on Facebook will remember me posting pictures of a smiley Bonjour Singapore with Singapore celebs Rebecca Lim and Nat Ho.

I was actually doing something very very exciting. Making my acting debut in an episode of a new XinMSN web series called Of Love and Hidden Charms (which also stars the lovely Romeo Tan - although sadly he wasn't involved in the bits I was in)

The experience was exhausting - but awesome. I never had any idea quite how many people are involved in the making of a TV series and quite how long it took to do things. I'm not kidding when I say that my scenes - which take up about six minutes of the show, took close to two days to film.

Me and Rebecca Lim have a laugh at Nat Ho's outfit in Love and Hidden Charms

Singapore's Ed et Al: Bespoke men’s shoes at its best

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Warning: This is a post coveting some of the most beautiful and original handcrafted shoes you will find anywhere in Singapore.

So why the warning? Well the items catching my attention are…wait for it….MEN’S SHOES.

Ed et Al is the brainchild of Singaporean Edwin Neo who has recently launched his third collection of beautifully crafted leather shoes.

It’s fair to say the man is a genius. A rare thing in Singapore. A genuine craftsman who has learned his trade the hard way and genuinely puts 100 per cent into his creations!

Self-taught Edwin studied his trade in Singapore (for 4 years!) and then undertook an apprenticeship in Budapest, Hungary, before deciding to set up shop on his own in June last year. He hasn’t looked back since.

Crawford & Sons: On trend tailored menswear in Singapore

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Crawford and Sons is a welcome new addition to the menswear scene in Singapore.

I don’t think they are anything to do with Grammy Award nominated Brit folk rockers Mumford and Sons but you never know.

What I do know is that they are filling a much needed gap in the market, namely for well tailored and well made workaday menswear that is bang on trend. 

So imagine you can find a company rocking the trend for that soft palated, sharp yet unstructured mod-lite look. Imagine James Dean rebel cool mixed with the tailoring of the scooter wearing set and you're on the right path.

Imagine you also find an answer to one of the biggest problems with menswear in Singapore - that when it comes to locally sourced shirts you tend to find it caters for the CBD banker market or the left-field cropped pant clad hipster crowd.

Great colour, great fabric and great fit. Is this really a Singapore work shirt?

Crawford and Sons have nailed that denim colour and the mods vs rockers influenced collar

What I wore: My 10 Digital Fashion Week outfits

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I had so many reasons to be super excited to take part of Digital Fashion Week (DFW). As you know I was hosting the interviews with some great established and emerging Singaporean designers and hanging around backstage among some beautiful clothes and models.

But I won’t lie. Getting dolled up every morning with a team of experts and having 10 outfits to change in three days was probably one of the highlights as well. My co-host (Beam Artiste and tanjongbazaar.com blogger Yvette King) and I took our jobs as promoting Singaporean and Asian designers very seriously and spent many days before the event running around planning our outfits mainly from places like Parco next NEXT and the participating designers.

It was tiring but great fun especially that our choices seemed to grab people’s attention - including super model Andrej Pejic who fell in love with a LION EARL digital print dress that Yvette was wearing which prompted the designer Lionel to give him one! Another item which Andrej managed to keep was my TOTON collar which I wore the last day to interview him. Sophie Sumner also made no secret of her love for local label OwnMuse and wore their clothes more than a couple of times during the week.

So if you’ve missed out (or lost count) of my DFW outfits, here’s the list of what I wore on all 3 days and the press conference! Which LOOK did you like most ;-)?

Big thanks goes to my dear friend Aaron Han who was on hand everyday
to snap most of these photos :-)

My 5 Highlights from the 1st Digital Fashion Week, Singapore

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It’s been a week since Digital Fashion Week has ended in Singapore but at least for me, it’ll be a while before I totally digest it and the fact that I was in the middle of it all, talking to awesome designers and models.

All in all, it’s been a great experience; you have to start somewhere right? So even for someone who never hosted anything let alone LIVE for the world to see - yes I do look at those videos and critique myself – I was kinda proud that I managed to do it and most of all, have fun while at it. Yup now I’m convinced more than ever not to take myself too seriously when it comes to fashion ;-)

There have been some amazing moments, too many to count and some of which I’ve documented in the previous posts here, here and here, but I have picked those 5 highlights which I will forever remember and look back at as an unforgettable experience which I was so lucky to have had.

But the biggest question is, would I do it again?

Between the nervous moments, I've had a blast especially with my co-host Yvette King,
seen here with Andrej Pejic backstage as he teaches us how to pose 'couture-style'!
Needless to say I have a lot more to learn... smiling and pouting at the same time is not a
good look ;-) (Photo by Zhi Wei)

Digital Fashion Week: Day three, Guo Pei and the pictures!!!

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It's been exhausting but we made it. My first ever live presenting gig is finished and my feet haven't touched the ground yet.

I mean that in a literal as well as a metaphorical sense too - the reason I'm only posting the day three round-up now is because I've been sleeping non-stop since Digital Fashion Week finished. Those 14 hours on your feet all day (in heels!) really took a toll!

But I wouldn't have swapped it for the world. Being backstage felt like being in a new era, this was the most relaxed, friendly and comfortable fashion event I have ever attended.

The stars were amazing and happy to give total and constant access not only to myself and my co-host but also to the fans who seemed surprised that the likes of Sophie Sumner, Patricia Field and Andrej Pejic were just casually strolling amongst them.

The Chanel of China, Guo Pei and supermodel Andrej Pejic totally blew everyone away with the final show of Digital Fashion Week (picture courtesy of www.digitalfashionweek.com)

Digital Fashion Week: Guo Pei show and Day two highlights

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Wow. It's been non-stop since we started on Saturday (well Friday if you count rehearsals etc) but what a ride Digital Fashion Week has been.

I don't have time to blog in detail at the moment, but I promise you once this is over you will get a full rundown on what went down, on what Sophie and Andrej are like and on what they loved/hated.

Oh you'll also get to find out exactly what I wore. Suffice to say I have still been flying the flag for Singapore and Asia in the clothes I've been rocking. 

As for day three. You HAVE to see Guo Pei's show at 7pm this evening on www.digitalfashionweek.com AND you have to stay online to watch me interview the one, the only Andrej Pejic in a Google+ Hangout at 9pm. Do. Not. Miss!

As for my highlights of day two? 

Sophie Sumner and me go Asian style as we have some fun backstage at Digital Fashion Week

Digital Fashion Week: Day two line-up and day one highlights

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What a whirlwind. Day one of Digital Fashion Week is over, my live presenting debut is ancient history and we're into day two.

Arriving at the venue early just made me more and more nervous. Watching as the red carpet got laid out (soon to be soaked by a tropical thunderstorm from hell) made me double nervous and then watching the TV cameras roaming around sent me into near panic mode.

But the awesome Yvette King (who is presenting live backstage coverage) helped calm my nerves, as did the whole crew producing the Google+ hangouts and to be honest, once it got under way and I could get down to talking to the guests, the nerves just melted away.

And what a day. It was an honour to talk to the likes of Thomas Wee (who revealed he is taking in Digital Fashion Week but doesn't have a website), JR Chan from -J-A-S-O-N- (who revealed an interesting story behind the name of the label in our chat) and the lovely Pauline Lim from Pauline.Ning (who also revealed why her label has a different name to hers)

So the scorecard from the first day of an amazing event goes a little something like this...

The beautiful Andrej Pejic takes the 'Blue Steel' challenge backstage at DFW. Photo borrowed from the super talented Lenne Chai of Aetienne http://aetienne.net/

Digital Fashion Week: Line-up and lowdown for day one

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It's here. It's finally here.

The designers are here, the clothes are here and the models are here (causing quite a publicity stir it seems) and everything is ready. Digital Fashion Week gets under way today.

Yes, that's right the world's first online only fashion week is about to kick off and you can watch it all LIVE.

Much more than an ordinary fashion show, you will have a front row seat to ALL of the action. Front stage, backstage and probably side stage too. What's more is that you will also be given the opportunity to buy the clothes you see on the catwalk thanks to DFW's e-commerce partners Zalora.

All of the shows will be broadcast live on YouTube and on the official Digital Fashion Week website. The backstage action is also being broadcast there too and will be hosted by the beautiful Yvette King.

Post show interviews will be broadcast live on Google+ hangout and will be hosted by yours truly (in a variety of different dresses ha ha) along with a selection of bloggers from Singapore. And we will be interviewing everyone, so stay tuned for that!

Andrej Pejic and Sophie Sumner enjoying dim sum in Singapore. But now it's down to business.
Digital Fashion Week is under way 

Bonjour Singapore is one year old today! Thank you for your support!

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Bonjour Singapore is one year old today, and what a journey it’s been.

I could never have thought when I posted a polite introduction as a relative newbie to Singapore on October 18, 2011, that I would be where I am now.

What started as a way of keeping in touch with my friends, killing time while I job hunted (still unemployed BTW) and sharing my new found passion for the talented local designers in Singapore has snowballed into something of a crusade.

I always wonder if many of the designers I approached or blogged about initially thought “who is this crazy curly haired foreigner?” but they smiled sweetly and helped me out anyway. 

Now one year on I have met so many talented people, made some amazing friends and been adopted by the Singapore fashion community as one of their own. It makes me realize that Singapore is a place with so much heart and soul.

One of my favourite photos of myself (wearing Mae Pang). It's my
anniversary so I'm allowed to post a pic or two of myself :-) Thanks for
John Tan of Streetpeek for the photo!!