H&M lauches Marni collection in Singapore - in an orderly manner!

UPDATE: I collaborated with a few bloggers around the world to document how H&M x Marni went down around the world? Click on the following link to see what happened in Los Angeles and New York.

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So finally the day came! And as excited as I was, I still couldn’t justify starting to queue from the night before or even anytime before 8am! And it turns out I didn’t need to. As the insanity that surrounded Versace was nowhere to be seen.
On the way there I met Zid, who had 2 bags of Marni x H&M and of course I wanted to know what he got! Turns out, like me, he didn’t go crazy and bought what he really liked – the yellow shorts and the white daisy necklace which I sadly missed :-(

While Twitter was full with rumours about the entire collection being sold out in just 20 minutes, I had my doubts. In fact, reaching H&M at 9:30am (yes I need my morning sleep!) the queue had only about 30 people. It seemed too good to be true, and it turned out that this was secondary queue. 

The queue for Marni x H&M at 11:00 am in Singapore

Q&A with.... Me! From Fashion Studio Magazine

Forgive my self indulgence - but I'm quite excited about this.

I've just had an interview published with international website Fashion Studio Magazine. This online fashion site was launched in NYC just over a year ago and now operates in London, Toronto and Singapore.

So obviously I'm excited because it will introduce Singapore fashion and designers to a more global audience.

The focus of my post today is...erm...me :)

Trend spotting: 3 of the best Little white Dresses from Singapore labels

Forget about colours, this summer’s hottest trend is all white!

From the Oscars where stars like Gwenyth Paltrow, Rooney Mara, Octavia Spencer and Mila Jovovic wowed in their all-white looks, to the SS2012 runways of designer labels like Louis Vuitton, Moschino, Nina Ricci, L’Wren Scott; white dresses have been on the rise this year and luckily for us replacing the LBD as the classic dress to go to for every occasion.

What I love about the LWD is that it is very versatile, breezy for the summer and works well with almost all skin tones as long as you follow few tips which I’ll be dishing out later in this post. The trend this summer has spanned from very minimal and practical forms of the LWD (Jason Wu and L’Wren Scott) to a more ornamental ones like the detailed and romantic lace and organza creations at Louis Vuitton especially.

But first, as usual I’ve done the work for you and picked 3 of the best on trend LWDs, all from local labels of course! These dresses are not on the cheap side but they’re definitely worth the investment as judging by the AW2012 shows in NY, the LWD is here to stay  for at least a couple more seasons to come.

This Spring/Summer's LWD as shown on the runways of Alberta
Ferretti (left),Louis Vuitton (centre) and L'Wren Scott (right)

Stars who wore white at the Oscars including Gwenyth Paltrow in
Tom Ford, Octavia Spencer in Tadashi Shoji and Rooney Mara in Givenchy.

Five of the Best: My picks from Marni for H&M collection

When H&M did the collaboration with Lanvin, I thought that was the pinnacle. I mean where do you go from there? With all due respect, Versace was a step down; more popular but definitely a step down in terms of style and quality.

Then came Marni… and now I’m kinda torn! But while Lanvin’s collection consisted mainly of party dresses, Marni has stuck steadfastly to what the brand does best: sophisticated yet wearable everyday clothes. And another plus point of this collection is the price range which is considerably lower than the previous H&M designer collaborations (the most expensive piece is S$199).

One of the reasons I love Marni for is the label’s practical approach to design; Making the everyday wardrobe interesting while also being comfortable and appropriate. But the trick to rocking Marni pieces (and especially those for H&M) is good styling! Without it, you can risk those lovely pieces looking just blah and uninspiring due to their understated cuts.

Keeping that in mind, I made my 5 picks from the Marni for H&M collection based on how well I think the pieces would look on a real person, not styled up to perfection like the model in the lookbook.

So, here’s my list for next Thursday:

This outfit is styled so well but I doubt the shiny look would be possible to pull off...
unless you are the model of course :-)

Q&A with Allysa Sing: the director behind MAX TAN’s short fashion film ‘Crane Wife’

I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but as much as I am into fashion, I am into film as well! So it’s only natural that when I see a fashion video with a great narrative and superb direction I get as excited just as I would, seeing Yasmin Le Bon closing the Stephane Rolland couture show in a 50kg dress!

And it is not just any fashion film I’m talking about; this is a Singaporean film, conceived and produced by young talented people and showcasing local favourite Max Tan’s Autumn Winter 2012/13 collection from a different perspective.

Along with her creative team, the director of the short fashion film, Allysa Sing based this video on the Japanese folk fable ‘Crane Wife’ which is a chilling story in itself and kinda related to clothing.

The result is a simple narrative with a powerful mood which translates MAX TAN line’s easy yet sensuous philosophy and feel. I also love the score of the film, whose subtlety reminds me of some of the Asian films I’ve seen and admired over the years.

Crane Wife from strangexperiments on Vimeo.