A long time ago I met Vera Mao as part of a Singapore Streetstyle contest; she was elegant, interested and interesting, calm and had a hidden passion for creating her own path. With the recent launch of Atelier Agape, Vera has manifested her potential.
Atelier Agape is a fair trade jewellery brand. All the pieces are handcrafted in an ethical manner by marginalised artisans in Jaipur. All the artisans are paid a fair wage and given training in enterprise building skills in conjunction with SETU, a fair trade organisation based in Jaipur. “During the pandemic, SETU has also used a part of its profits from jewellery production to prepare and distribute meals for the poor and destitute,” says Vera.
All of the Atelier Agape jewellery pieces are handcrafted from 925 sterling silver, gilded with white rhodium or 14K gold vermeil and do not contain any lead, cadmium or nickel, making it hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin.
Just in time for Mother’s Day, the brand is launching with a collection dedicated to mothers and their children.
“I am always moved by the emotional and undeniable connection of the maternal bond between a woman and her child. With several of my friends becoming new mothers, and having attended numerous baby showers, I was tired of the typical gift gifting traditions,” explains Vera.
“I found myself seeking something different, something that would honour the start of this relationship that is so deeply meaningful. There are several mother-child matching fashion [options] but not in jewellery, which is a highly personal category.”
“Each piece is thoughtfully designed to allow both mother and child to latch meaning unto and cherish with time, through intricate details and free personalisation to tell each mother’s unique story,” explains Vera.
Tous Les Jours, which translates to ‘everyday’ in French, is the first Atelier Agape collection and is inspired by “everyday superheroes – real, modern, selfless mothers” says Vera. There are different styles to match different tastes, and the central concept is based on the idea of separating one into two – mother and child pendants that can be worn together, or separated to be worn by both.
“Drawing inspiration from the idea that mothers always wish to carry their little one with them to keep them safe, the matching bracelet set features a Mama Bear and Baby Bear pendant that fits perfectly into each other in a perpetual hug, while the 2-in-1 Nesting Locket Necklace features a locket that opens to reveal an inner pendant,” says Vera.
Atelier Agape jewelry is available exclusively on www.atelieragape.com. All orders from first-time customers receive 10% off. Prices quoted in SGD. For Mother’s Day only, all orders made before 10 May will receive free gift-wrapping.
‘Made in China’ has, rather unfortunately, been considered a symbol with negative connotations, denoting as it did historically that anything made in China was cheap rubbish. Thankfully in the last decade or so, this misconception has been mostly overcome, particularly in the areas around technology.
However there has continued to be a perception that when it comes to original creativity, the work coming out of China is less refined, more derivative, and not as stylish as that of the rest of the world, indeed, even the rest of Asia.
Japan has long been considered a bastion of high design, from ceramics and architecture, to fashion and technology; in the last five years South Korea has also been seen as owning a particular type of original design. China, however, has not.
Which is a shame. After all, the core design traditions of both Japan and Korea are Chinese. The form of writing, building, traditional clothing … All can be traced to China.
In current times China’s impact on the creative world has been seen mostly through the lens of business and money. Chinese luxury buyers are to be tempted with red and gold versions of existing products … ‘just in time for Chinese New Year’, but the majority of creative brands have not only patronised the Chinese market, they have also appropriate its culture and used blatant racism in its advertising.
All of this leads one to wonder why more attention hasn’t been given to the current crop of quality creatives now coming out of China. There are a number of highly regarded architects and artists, for example, that do appear to receive accolades, so why not the fashion designers?
There are a number of Chinese designer names who have managed to make enough noise to be noticed, mostly because they are based in Europe. Masha Ma, Angel Chen, Yiqing Yin, Ryan Lo and Yang Li are all based in either Paris or London.
This lack of attention towards Chinese fashion designers is due to the tendency of Western fashion media to ignore anything that isn’t right in front of their noses.
In an attempt to try to remedy this attitude, here is an interesting Chinese fashion brand worth discovering.
HEMU
Founded in 2010, by Yang Fengrui, Hemu is a modern take on traditional Chinese clothing without too many of the obvious cliches.
While there are definite straight nods to tradition – mandarin collars, frog closures, long loose layers, tassels – they are used in a relatively sparing manner to create the impression of histroriosity, rather than a direct knock-off like you find on Hanfu clothing websites.
What strikes the eye immediately is that Yang is moved mostly by fabric; every piece of the Spring 2020 collection depended on the fluidity of the silk used to impart the meaning and even structure of the garments.
The focus on the texture of the fabric, in plain swathes of white and black showed a very modern take on a traditional qipao. Muted shades of gold and umber, plus a single shot of red, held the collection together.
Less clever are the menswear pieces (see the video) that take a more obvious leaf from the traditional garment book; however in the current age of non-gendered dressing the sheer fact that most of the menswear garments could be interpreted as long gowns is an interesting perspective. The traditional Chinese dress style, after all, offered long, flowing garments for both sexes.
Carla Zampatti is one of Australia’s best-known, most successful and globally recognised fashion designers, and for her Grand Showcase she showed a classic collection.
Over 30 years ago, Carla Zampatti introduced me to the idea that fashion could be a career. As a teenager I attended a talk she gave about how fashion wasn’t a frivolous pastime, but something that could become a job for life.
Obviously the designer practiced what she preached. Zampatti opened her first store in 1972; that’s almost 50 years ago. And she hasn’t stopped working to create the classic Australian woman’s wardrobe.
For her Grand Showcase affaire at VAMFF, Zampatti held her own on the runway – the only brand to have a stand-alone show – with a series of wearable, stylish and elegant looks that held little overt drama but a whole lot of ‘chic’.
Luckily for me I was seated next to the lovely, warm, friendly and funny Robyn Baillieu, wife of the former Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu.
Chatting about her interest in fashion, especially how innovation is changing the industry, Baillieu said that she, and her two daughters both wore, and loved, pieces from the brand. And as Baillieu happily pointed out looks she loved and some that she already owned, it was clear that Carla Zampatti has developed into a label that suits a wide range of ages.
While the runway show was all about Zampatti as a designer, and the brand, it was also heartening to see so much inclusion on the runway. Globally there has been a lot of talk about the importance of including all races and creeds, and sizes.
While Zampatti featured stunning black models and Asian models, and included two hijabi looks, it would have been fabulous to see a few elegant mature women and women of different shapes on the runway too. Melbourne model Hanan Ibrahim (pictured below) was the first hijab model to walk the runway for Melbourne Fashion Week.
Melbourne model Hanan Ibrahim was the first hijab model to walk the Melbourne Fashion Week runways
With a soundtrack provided by Eurovision songstress Dani Im supported by Nick Wales, Peter Simon Phillips and Jonny Seymour, the set of the Royal Exhibition Building resounded to a mix of contemporary soul and more instrumental sounds – the perfect accompaniment for the collection that was also a mix of classic and contemporary.
Opening with a series of classic Carla red looks, working through sky blue satin, a glittery houndstooth jacquard, leopard and zebra prints (with added bling), it was the tailoring, coats and jackets that showed why Australian women love the brand.
A stunning boxy double-breasted coat in boucle tweed stood out as one that would stand the test of time; as did a white wool suit with swinging fringe.
The houndstooth pieces, rather ironically considering the passing of Kaiser Karl, were reminiscent of classic Chanel – a comparison that can never be escaped when using that pattern in black and white. However Zampatti deftly added her own touch with a simple long skirt in once case, and a neat pair of capris in another.
There were a number of capes and capelets; the most successful being a beguiling caramel coat-dress in a lovely suede.
Less successful were a series of graphic evening dresses – one with a mound of maribou, another not quite fitting the model correctly – as they seemed a little too ornate, especially when compared to other evening looks.
A classic ‘sexy’ mini encrusted in shining sequins and another evening gown that cleverly created a zebra stripe of shimmer seemed more streamlined and elegant.
Perhaps the most interesting and memorable look was a delicately pleated maxi dress with string-sized straps, a low vee neckline and perfect pleats front and back; the cut of the back was done to perfection as it sat proud from the shoulder.
This was a stunning example of quality tailoring, however it didn’t seem to entirely fit the rest of the more classic collection. Perhaps it is a new concept we will see more of in the future.
The show closed with a collection of black evening frocks that were again, more classic than cutting edge, not that this is a bad thing.
Since the fashion industry currently appears to be having a crisis of conscience around the issues of sustainability and ethical fashion, it may be time to invest your money in pieces that will always look stylish, rather than just jump on a passing trend.
As the show ended, Zampatti received a standing ovation. Not many designers, even the big names in Paris, get that.
I attended VAMFF as part of its Writers Programme.
Sustainable fashion, slow fashion, closed circular fashion production system … all these things are the future of fashion and we need to start doing them now.
At the Future Fashion. Is it a stitch up? conversation held as part of VAMFF’s Independent Ideas Event series, and in collaboration with The Possibility Project, a group of like-minded individuals came together to examine the future of the fashion industry in Australia and beyond.
Examples of fabrics from Ink & Spindle, an Australian brand that create textiles that have a minimal impact on the earth. The brand uses organic cotton/hemp and eco-linen basecloths for their prints that are free from harmful chemicals. .
With Kim Pearce from The Possibility Project and slumwear108, Marnie Goding, the Creative Director of fashion label ELK, and Karina Seljak co-founder of Seljak Brand on the panel, the focus was on the importance of changing the current fashion industry system, with the hope to improve the overall sustainability of making and wearing clothes; and doing so with kindness and ethical awareness.
As Pearce said: “It is time for the fashion industry to open the conversation, and reimagine the industry in a way that is not all about technology but also about common sense”. She believes that historical fashion choices by both industry and consumers have led to “immense damage”, not only of the environment, but also how people and their work is treated.
Like the Fashion Revolution movement and its popular hashtag #Imadeyourclothes, The Possibility Project focuses on the social movement behind changing people’s shopping choices. They don’t want people to feel guilty about how they shop for clothes, but they do want to educate shoppers about what they’re buying.
Fabric from Ink & Spindle.
For Karina Seljak, one of the co-founders of Seljak Brand – an Australian company that makes blankets from recycled wool – getting the technology, machinery and skills behind creating a fully sustainable and closed circular fashion production system is most important when it comes to creating a better fashion system.
“One of the main inhibitors to moving to a closed loop system in Australia is that we are still shipping our textile waste offshore; those recycled products don’t come back to Australia. We need to our on-shore manufacturing to be circular [to make a difference],” explained Seljak.
This issue of waste was also emphasised by Pearce, although her perspective was as much about how human potential is being wasted in the large scale fashion industry.
And waste, plus the sourcing of the right materials, also came up in Marnie Goding’s comments on how her brand ELK currently operates. “In Australia we don’t value our waste products. There is a factory in Vietnam that we work with that completely recycles all of its waste water used in making jeans. They put it back into the environment,” said Goding.
Although Goding wants her brand to be as ethical and sustainable as possible, her core concern is that not just in Australia, but globally, the established manufacturing industry has not kept up with the move towards more sustainable fabrics and textiles. She also mentioned that although ‘sustainability’ is currently a global fashion trend, customers are not yet educated enough to understand why they need to change their shopping habits.
The team at Ink & Spindle showing how they hand screen print their eco-friendly fabrics.
Shown by the few questions asked by the audience, all three speakers were preaching to the converted. A few asked about how younger shoppers can be converted when they are focused on cheap prices and social media trends, however apart from discussing the importance of education, and shopping at Op Shops, there was little that the speakers mentioned that could impact in any great way.
While it is obviously important for more people to know about why we need to stop sending clothes to landfill and choosing to buy fewer, better, things, the relatively small turnout for the Future Fashion conversation also showed that a great deal more needs to be done to get the message out. As long as it’s done with kindness.
The Singapore brand, Love, Bonito, might have begun in 2010 as a ‘blogshop’ but it has now expanded into a multi-outlet bricks ‘n’ mortar lifestyle brand with the opening of its second Singapore store in Jem. This is on top of its flagship store in 313@Somerset, and its two retail stores in Kuala Lumpur. Love, Bonito is obviously thriving, not just surviving the current troubled retail market.
The latest collection from Love, Bonito. Image: Love, Bonito
Continuing its focus on being a ‘retail friend’ to its customers, the Love, Bonito brand has stepped easily into the new retail world of experiences and technology, its founders becoming social media influencers in their own rights, and their fans becoming loyal customers. Despite the so-called woes of retail, this disruptor fashion brand is powering ahead.
To discover more about how the brand has grown, developed and succeeded, I got in touch with Rachel Lim, the co-founder of Love, Bonito, and the current face of the brand’s marketing, to answer a few questions. With 106K followers on Instagram alone, Lim is not only a successful business woman, she’s an inspiration to hundreds of entrepreneurial Singaporeans.
The latest collection from Love, Bonito. Image: Love, Bonito
Did you have any female business role models when growing up? Rachel Lim: No particular ones but there are strong females I had as role models growing up – my mom. She was a strong inspiration because even though we went through so much hardship as a family she showed a lot of grit and tenacity, all while keeping her joy and positivity, which was the key in us getting through the difficulties.
When did you know you wanted to run your own business? RL: When I decided to drop out of my final year in university to start Love, Bonito with my Co-Founders. I knew that I wanted to create something that didn’t exist for women.
Do you think being a female entrepreneur has made a difference to how you have built your business? RL: Not so sure if it’s because I’m a female but being a real woman creating for other real women has definitely helped shape who Love, Bonito is.
What were the factors that led you to start Love, Bonito? RL: The clear gap in the market. There weren’t any pieces out there that really suited and fitted Asian women in a flattering way. That was how we started – by understanding the needs of other women, what they were looking for, and creating for them.
What sort of resources (besides financial) did you have when you started Love, Bonito? RL: We had guts (haha). Because we were pioneers in the business of e-commerce back then, we had to pave the way ourselves. For example, there weren’t even any courier services who were well-versed in this format of business.
What kind of market research did you do before starting Love, Bonito? RL: Honestly, we didn’t do much research initially. We learnt via a lot of trial and error and from making mistakes. Most of our learning was done on the go.
Did you feel prepared to start the business when you did? RL: Back then I felt more excited than prepared. And in some way that drove me to push forward regardless of the problems that surfaced.
Have your goals and values changed since starting Love, Bonito? RL: I have really evolved as a person. Since starting the brand I have found myself, and I continue to discover myself everyday. I have learnt to accept my strengths and weaknesses and embrace them. More importantly, I have learned how to grow and use my talents to contribute while surrounding myself with others who compliment my weaknesses.
What were some of the key lessons learned? RL: That one can’t do it all. And one shouldn’t do it all. I wish I had known earlier to discover my areas of strength and to develop and hone them so that I could contribute strongly in those aspects.
What are your plans for the future of Love, Bonito? RL: Right now we are empowering women and reaching out to women through fashion. The dream is to reach out to even more women through other different vehicles.
What advice, based on your own experience, do you have for women starting a business today? RL: Don’t just start a business because it’s the sexy, in thing. I truly believe that there is no age limit to being an entrepreneur. Find and know your why and more importantly, surround yourself with people who will love you enough to be honest with you. If and when you have decided to start a business, the right team at the right stage of your business is absolutely essential.
The Love, Bonito Jem store opens on 8 December 2018, in Singapore. The Love, Bonito flagship store is located at 313@Somerset. To shop the brand online go to: www.lovebonito.com.
Here’s another piece from my Masters’ blog that I think is worth reposting …
Are couturiers and their ateliers still relevant?
Dior Haute Couture SS18 finale: The list of Grand Couturiers that showed during Haute Couture SS18 fashion week included Givenchy, Alexandre Vauthier, Giambattista Valli, Julien Fournié, Jean Paul Gaultier, Stéphane Rolland, Christian Dior, Alexis Mabille, Franck Sorbier, Chanel, Schiaparelli and Maison Margiela. Image: Dior via WWD
Fashion is not just about high street stores, online shopping and $5 t-shirts. Fashion at its core is about the making of garments to fit and suit your body perfectly.
Who are the couturiers and what is haute couture?
With the current fashion trends focused almost entirely on streetwear and sportswear, it’s easy to forget that fashion used to come first from the delicate hands and exacting minds of the haute couture ateliers – the studios of ‘high elegant sewing’. Basically sewing by hand.
Over the years, however, it has come to be defined as being: ‘fashion that is constructed by hand from start to finish, made from high quality, expensive, often unusual fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable sewers, often using time-consuming, hand-executed techniques’ (Huffington Post 2015).
The Chambre syndicale de la haute couture as it is now known was originally founded in 1868, and rigorously chooses a very limited number of 100 members in three groups or Chambres Syndicales – Haute Couture including Grand Couture, Couturiers’ and Fashion Designers’ Ready-to-Wear and Men’s Fashion as exemplars of quality fashion and design (Chambre syndicale de la haute couture 2018).
Of these three groups, to become a member of the Haute Couture Chambre Syndicale is considered the highest honour a fashion designer can aspire to (Chambre syndicale de la haute couture 2018).
Why should we care about haute couture ateliers? Haute Couture can be defined as being the highest level of the creation of garments; the Chambre was founded to promote ‘Haute Couture and creation [to] have a major impact by combining traditional know how and contemporary technology at all times’ (Chambre syndicale de la haute couture 2018).
It is the work of these couturiers and their atelier teams that continue the core skills and history of handcrafting garments to perfectly fit a body. These handcrafting skills are the basis for every factory machine action that is used to create prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear clothing.
Without the continuation of revered ateliers like embroiderer Maison Lesage which partners with Chanel for its haute couture collections, so much knowledge and skill would be lost.
Without the couturiers and ateliers, there would be no fashion; just a lot of clothes.
There is always a certain consideration that Carolyn applies when she designs; she doesn’t take the most obvious route towards referencing ‘local flavour’, and generally designs first from a point of genuine interest and love for the things that make Singapore special. She also has a quirky sense of humour.
Carolyn is basically the nicest person in the world too. #justsaying
The new Modern Heirloom fine jewellery collection has been inspired by Singapore’s Peranakan heritage, in particular the colourful traditional tiles. But unlike just about every fashion student I’ve ever had the misfortune to critique, Carolyn didn’t just go with over-wrought patterns of teal, fuschia and lemon.
The Modern Heirloom fine jewellery collection. Image: Carrie K.
Although the designs were based on the stylised plants and animals of the traditional tiles that can be found across Singapore from Chinatown to Little India and Geylang Serai, when you look at the geometric and streamlined jewellery pieces the connection does not smack you in the face.
“The Modern Heirloom Collection was designed to create relevant interpretations of important elements of our Singapore Heritage in the hope that these meaningful reminders will be handed down to future generations,” says Carolyn.
There is a very Art Deco feel to the designs overall, including the sharp lines, the pearls and the fact that Carolyn chose to use white gold instead of yellow for the settings. The colours come from rubies, emeralds, blue sapphires and diamonds and well as semi-precious stones such as amethyst, peridot, topaz, and jade.
The Modern Heirloom fine jewellery collection. Image: Carrie K.
As well as the refined, pared-back aesthetic, Carolyn has continued her penchant for mechanical things by fiddling with the designs to include multiple functions. There’s an ‘over ring’ that you wear with the core Heritage Rings; this creates an impressive cocktail ring that you can breakdown into a smaller everyday piece. As with all Carrie K. pieces, the designs come in a number of price points. Starting from only SG$288 for the silver version of the Heritage Outer Ring with topaz, that you pair with a silver and ruby, blue sapphire or emerald Heritage Ring for SG$388. You can also splash out on a luxe version that is made of 9 karat gold with a great emerald for SG$1,288.
The Modern Heirloom fine jewellery collection Heritage Ring. Image: Carrie K.
Another inspiration for Carolyn for the Modern Heirloom collection was Si Dian Jin – usually connected to weddings but actually based on the Chinese concept of ‘four generations under one roof’. You can also see echos of this concept in the architecture of the traditional Chinese four-pointed roof. That concept is where the overall design of the rings comes from – the outer ring with four ‘points’ and the inner ring with four stones that represent the four generations.
The Modern Heirloom fine jewellery collection Heritage Ear Drops. Image: Carrie K.
The rings are obviously my favourite pieces, but the earrings are damn nice too. Like the rings, the earrings are also multifunctional – the Heritage Ear Drops can be worn either as simple studs or with the additional ‘drops’ which you can buy separately. Prices range from $368 to $588 depending on the type of stones you choose. Top of the line is the pair that comes in 9 karat gold with amethyst and London blue topaz or white topaz which cost $1,488. I’m also loving the studs in rhodalite garnet or dark tarvorite garnet for $1,188.
Basically I’m impressed with the whole collection – as if that’s not obvious. I just have to work out how to pay for all the pieces I want.
The Carrie K. Heritage fine jewellery collection is available from the new Carrie K. Fine Jewellery Atelier located at #02-02 National Design Centre. The atelier will feature the custom and bespoke services, and you can shop for the ready-to-wear Carrie K. collection at the Keepers PlayShop at #01-01 National Design Centre.
For a long time I’ve had an issue with Singapore media describing certain companies that make clothes as ‘fashion brands’ but which are actually ‘retail’ labels. These brands – Love, Bonito is one of them – are not really ‘fashion brands’; they are companies that make nice clothes, at reasonable prices, with a bit of personal style, for people to wear on a daily basis. These brands are more similar to Topshop and Uniqlo than they are to Dior or Chanel, or even Vetements.
In Singapore there are number of quite successful retail brands that have been making their way into popular shopping memories, but which are not fashion brands per se. Brands like Love, Bonito, By Invite Only, Beyond the Vines and Benjamin Barker, were recently featured at the Singapore Fashion Awards 2017, as part of the ‘marketing’ section, not as part of the design awards. And having been a founding judge for the awards, I know that the reason these brands are featured is because they are popular and much more retail-friendly than many less wearable or conceptual designer brands. Designer brands that are more appropriate to be considered as ‘fashion’ labels.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that more retail-friendly brands are worse than the more fashion-forward labels. What I’m trying to highlight is that these types of clothing companies are not ‘oranges and apples’, they’re more ‘oranges and coffee-smoked buffalo tongue’. The first is something that doesn’t scare the shopper, the second is only for the very adventurous.
I have a great deal of respect for Love, Bonito’s founders. They have created a very lucrative business in a fashion retail environment that’s been under a great deal of pressure for the last 2-3 years. The brand knows exactly who their customer is; they know what she wants; and they know how to give it to her in a seamless online-to-offline experience. The brand has a variety of price points, but retains its core directive from its launch, expanding only as much, and as directionally, as is needed to grow the business. Love, Bonito is not a fashion brand swinging on the weird wind of trends and concepts; it’s sailing along smoothly along in a clear direction. And this is not a bad thing.
Image from Love, Bonito Chinese New Year 2018 capsule collection. Model: Jasmine Sim
While I may not consider Love, Bonito to be a hardcore fashion brand – you can read about the Singapore brands I do consider more ‘fashion’ – the founders have never claimed it is one. They are purposefully creating a business that has long term prospects in the retail market.
There are a few other Singapore brands that are also not exactly pristine when it comes to plagiarism. Whole9Yards has been cited for knocking off first, Self Portrait – the classic coloured lace dresses of its earliest collections – and now Malaysian designer, Jonathan Liang. Pleatation is obviously a copy of Issey Miyake’s Pleats Please label.
For Pleatation, the concept arose at the same time as micro pleated skirts started flooding Zara and Topshop; the brand cleverly linked up with this trend.
Image from Jonathan Liang SS17
When Whole9Yards first launched there was not a whole lot to talk about. The design concept was very ‘office lady’. However, after Self Portrait’s iconic lace dresses took off in 2013, Whole9Yards began to specialise in lace dresses the average OL could afford. The lace dress became a staple of its output. And very successful it was too. Although I’ve noticed that the brand has massively increased their prices now that they’re doing items that look like those of Jonathan Liang.
Image from Whole9Yards AW17
Again, I’m not saying that affordable retail options are an entirely bad thing. What I am saying is that making items that so closely echo the creative work of other designers is not fashion; it is copying. It is the lack of original design coupled with riding a wave of commercial popularity that makes it ‘retail’ and NOT fashion. At least as far as I’m concerned.
As I was quoted in this very flattering story by Adele Chan, the Editor-in-Chief of Nylon Singapore … “As always, I want to remind readers that this is my personal opinion, and as with anything, you can always have your own.”
Have been looking at some of the photography I’ve done lately and realised that I’ve been getting a lot better at it; at least I think so. Here are some backstage snaps I took at the Finland’s Fashion Frontier runway show featuring a couple of Singapore’s top models – male and female, including the amazing Jean Yong in the main image above – and some other lovely faces … It’s all in the eyes. I might need to invest in a proper camera.
There is a tendency in small communities to rave about any local brand or designer simply because they ARE local.
While it is important to support local talent, it is just as important to give praise where due, and to not simply celebrate the ‘localness’ for its own sake.
This is what has happened over the last 6 years in the Singapore fashion industry. Local brands with little to no true originality have been patted on the back and given media coverage simply because they exist. It’s like giving all the kids in a race a certificate and no medals for first, second or third.
When you don’t appear to get anything more for standing out from the crowd and being better than others, what’s the point of trying?
Conversely, just because you have a lot of friends in the local media, it shouldn’t mean that your work is placed higher on the tent pole of adulation.
In Singapore there has been a general creep towards admiration for retail brands that have successful social media accounts, rather than support for labels that do their own thing and focus on creating original work.
Yes, we should be proud of the brands that have continued to be economically viable in the current difficult retail environment – and indeed, they deserve praise simply for surviving. However, retail-successful brands are not going to be cutting edge fashion design in a trend-focused, shopping-driven country like Singapore.
Over the last 9 years in Singapore I have seen so many fashion brands come and go. Some deserved to disappear from our fashion radar, but others succumbed due to the lack of media attention, the lack of fashion education for shoppers – also media-led – and a general oversupply of any, and every, fashion brand in the world. Not to mention, of course, the increasing rise of online shopping.
Out of this complicated mess of being ignored in favour of someone’s friend’s new blogshop sourced from Dongdaemun Market; fighting for sales against global retail giants; and forever being forgotten by the fashion media except for the annual ‘Singapore issue’, there have risen a few fashion and accessories brands worth talking about.
These are my personal picks for Singapore fashion brands that actually work from a creative base of originality; no, they’re not all perfect (no brand is) but they have worked to ensure that they have a brand identity that doesn’t depend on ripping off other brands.
DEPRESSION
Image: Depression
Yes, I admit that I am personal friends with the designers behind Singapore streetwear unisex brand Depression. However, this doesn’t mean I can’t objectively appreciate what Kenny Lim and Andrew Loh have done over the last 10 years. Yes, Depression is 10 years old.
A brand that began as t-shirts for the impoverished junior industry creatives and hairstylists of Singapore, has grown into a brand that has a distinct DNA, is stocked globally and has shown at Berlin Fashion Week.
Depression is not a brand for everyone. It’s mostly black, drapey, oversized, punk-influenced streetwear for guys who work in the creative industries and girls who don’t like wearing pink lace dresses. But this doesn’t mean it’s not good.
Depression has a particular point-of-view and a targeted customer. And these are the reasons why it has survived Singapore’s ‘retail apocalypse’.
Image: Depression
Depression does have some issues. Over the years the brand has had hiccups in fabrication and fitting, but the team of designers tend not to make the same mistakes twice. As the brand owners have branched out into a multilabel store – Sects Shop – and a number of in-house brands, their ‘learnings’ have been incorporated into improving the Depression label.
Despite, or in fact, because of this, Depression is a Singapore fashion brand worth celebrating, whether or not you love an all black wardrobe.
Depression is available from Sects Shop located at Orchard Gateway #04-14, Singapore, and online at www.depression.com.sg.
IN GOOD COMPANY
Image: In Good Company
Designed and owned by the creative team behind now-defunct original Singapore brand Alldressedup, In Good Company is a tight collaboration between two designers who have their own specialties, and who know exactly who they are designing for. I’ve always said that the team, who worked together for about 10 years, made all their mistakes with someone else’s label, which is why they have grown from strength to strength since the brand launched in 2015.
Image: In Good Company
Jaclyn Teo, Sven Tan, Kane Tan – no relation – and Juliene Aw, are the co-founders of In Good Company, which started out with contemporary womenswear designed specifically for Singapore and the Southeast Asian region’s hot weather in a series of capsule collection ‘drops’, and has now expanded into matching ‘mini me’ collections for kids, and menswear. The brand is stocked in a number of stores in Singapore and the surrounding region, including in Jakarta, and has its own ‘tropical minimalist’ flagship store in ION Orchard on Orchard Road.
Image: In Good Company
The reason I describe the brand as being ‘tropical minimalist’ is that its aesthetic is a mix of Scandinavian minimalist design (yes, there’s a fair bit of COS in the shapes of the clothes) combined with a love of strong colours, ease of wear and machine-washability; perfect for tropical weather.
Image: In Good Company
Cuts tend to be on the smaller, Asian side, however the brand launched first as an online store and has a wide range of global customers. The signature very-fine shoulder and back strap details, and unique fabrics like machine-washable silk and cotton ‘neoprene’ means In Good Company remains modern without being trend-driven. Pieces from early collections can just as easily be worn with the latest launches and also fit nicely into ‘arty’ wardrobes that feature a lot of Comme Des Garçons. Yes, there are a few ‘basics’ that have a tendency to look like COS summer collections, but overall, In Good Company retains its own voice.
Image: In Good Company
The co-founders knew exactly who they were selling to before they launched the brand, and continue to stick to that very defined demographic despite the brand’s increasing profile as original Singapore design. They’ve been offered opportunities internationally – in countries that are definitely NOT tropical – but have stuck to their guns when it comes to designing for the region, not being beholden to global weather and not sticking to arbitrary fashion seasons.
It’s the combination of sticking to their preferred business model, knowing their customers and always exploring technology to create new, more comfortable fabrics, that has seen In Good Company continue to grow and establish itself as a strong independent Singapore fashion brand. This is not a brand that wants to become a global behemoth, the founders are all about staying true to their personal aesthetic and likewise living a life that allows for family and friends.
In Good Company is located at ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, #B1-06, Singapore. Open daily: 10am – 9:30pm, Tel: +65 6509 4786. You can shop the brand online at www.ingoodcompany.asia, and the store is also home to a cool cafe, Plain Vanilla Bakery.
CARRIE K. ARTISAN JEWELLERY
Image: Carrie K. Artisan Jewellery
Once again I have to own up to being personal friends with the team behind Carrie K. Artisan Jewellery, but hey, Singapore is a small place.
Carolyn Kan, the founder and designer of the brand is the perfect example of a Singapore creative just doing her thing, being excellent at what she does, and ignoring the shallow, wider world of globally focused trends and social media ra-ra.
Image: Carrie K. Artisan Jewellery
Carolyn launched the label way back in 2009 as a way to ‘tell stories’ after changing her career. Almost immediately the brand took off as an international jewellery exporter; her quirky designs based on everything from nuts & bolts to paint splatters and morse code, struck a cord with people looking for ‘wearable art’ that was not only affordable but also unique and told a personal story. Carolyn has always done commission work, creating very personal pieces for customers who want something that tells their own story.
Image: Carrie K. Artisan Jewellery
The retail side of the business has grown over the years to encompass pieces in silver for less than a $100, to fine jewellery versions that can go for thousands. Every collection starts from Carolyn’s odd-but-interesting brain and continue to tell fun and unique tales about her world and the fans who have bought into it.
Image: Carrie K. Artisan Jewellery
On top of all this, Carolyn has been the backbone of the creative design scene in Singapore. Her creation of the Keepers Studio concept from pop-up weekends and stores, to a permanent retail space at Singapore’s National Design Centre, has seen her become the most important person in the national design scene. Without her, there would not be successful Singapore brands – a bold claim but one I’m ready to defend.
The Carrie K. Artisan Jewellery atelier is located at National Design Centre, 111 Middle Road. #02-03 (Annex building along Queen Street), Singapore. Open: Monday to Saturday, 12:00 – 7pm, Tel: +65 6352 2559. You can also shop the brand online at www.carriekrocks.com, and at the Keepers store. For a full list of stockists including international, go to www.carriekrocks.com/stores.
These are my current best Singapore designer fashion and accessories brands. I’ll continue to update and add to the list.
niki bruce 