If I were to choose one of the main fashion weeks to attend,
it would be London Fashion Week for sure. Reason is, I find it more exciting and
unpredictable, and every season you’re guaranteed to be wowed by one of the
lesser known designers (remember Mary Katrantzou in 2008?)
So when I was told that some selected samples from these
designers who showed at LFW just two weeks ago (AW2012/2013) have landed here
in Singapore and will be previewed at the BOB (Best of British) trunk show in
Tiong Bahru I couldn’t wait to see it for myself; and it’s safe to say that the
experience was not far behind being in the front row at the LFW show itself-
only more exclusive and sans the celebrities.
With models parading and changing from one stunning piece to
another, the showroom was stocked with some great fashion that is luxurious and
stylish and doesn’t involve a single logo to show its value.
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| BOB showcased some stunning couture creations from British label BOUDICCA. The orange dress is on my wishlist already! |
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| HERMIONE DE PAULA's designs are delicate yet bold... love all the colourful and distinctive floral prints of her pieces. |
My favourites were Antoni and Alison with their colourful
silk printed dresses (another obsession of mine!) and Belle Sauvage, the edgy
label whose recent collection was full of leather pieces and chains but still
managed to look feminine due to the super sexy cuts.
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| One of the printed silk dresses from ANTONI & ALISON... great for a black tie event, don't you think? :-) |
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| More prints and colours from ANTONI & ALISON. |
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| Not all the looks were soft though. Fans of edgy British fashion will find pieces like this BELLE SAUVAGE dress on show as well. |
I was already familiar with both labels from my shopping
trips in London and needless to say, I loved every piece on show. But apart from the familiar, I was also wowed
by some couture pieces from the only British label to be invited to present at
the Paris Haute Couture week - Zowie Broach and Brian Kirkby’s BOUDICCA.
One bright orange structured dress in particular blew me away and if I have the
occasion (and the money) to buy it, I would have pre-ordered mine on the spot!
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| More couture from BOUDICCA... |
Other outstanding pieces from the preview
were some breath-taking numbers from Hermione de Paula whose incredible details
and textures - combining hand-painted
prints and feathers - are obvious influences from the designer’s experience
working at Christian Dior Couture and
Alexander McQueen.
The list goes on to every label in the
showroom, especially pieces from KTZ with unusual prints and bold colours and
shapes, and Haizhen Wang’s namesake label which boasts great tailoring and interesting
interpretation of ethnic wear which translates in form of the edgiest
womenswear pieces on show.
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| This outfit from HERMIONE DE PAULA looks like a piece of art! just breath-taking with all the feathers and hand-painted floral illustration... Major crush!!!! |
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| More from HERMIONE DE PAULA's beautiful prints... |
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| A leather and wool collar from edgy label Haizhen Wang |
As for men, the collections were even
edgier and more ‘out there’ in this sense. No matter how hard I tried, I just
could not imagine seeing anyone in Singapore rocking those ELVIS JESUS
provocative t-shirts or the BODYBOUND bright gold leather bomber jacket! But it
looked cool, unique and true to London-style of dressing!
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| Menswear pieces were bolder and edgier like this jacket from BODYBOUND |
The people who run BOB and the show itself
know their audience well and chatting with the exhibition co-ordinator Nin, who
is based and London and travels with the pieces around South East Asia, I can
see the passion they have to introduce these more ‘obscure’ (and sometimes
edgy) labels to people in this part of the world.
Do people get it though? Well Nin knows
the market they are catering for, and it does not involve those who spend two hours
at the LV island shopping for the same bag again and again and definitely not
those who define luxury by the size of the logo. It is rather aimed at people
with real fashion sense who appreciate the craftsmanship and subtle detail of
these garments where some pieces take countless hours to make and include
hand-painted and beaded details.
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| Some of Kate Middleton's favourite milliner Vivien Sheriff's pieces were on show as well... intricate details and beautiful designs! |
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| Love this white bow hat!!! so cute! |
I usually avoid blogging about high end
luxury fashion for I do not wish to alienate my readers who cannot all afford
it. But in this case I find that coveting to own the pieces is not really the
point of this post. I hope it will be rather seen as an eye-opener to all
fashion lovers out there, to be inspired from and excited about all these
amazing labels that stay true to their philosophy and keep injecting new life
into the mostly too-safe high fashion world.
But if you have the means and a great
sense of style, then please go ahead and pre-order your piece to show the
fashionistas out there how it’s done!
The BOB trunk show preview at their
Singapore showroom (59 Eng Hoon street, #55-01) ends on Friday 23rd
of March and will be travelling after that to other cities in South East Asia.
For more information and details about
ordering/previewing the collections and any updates, check BOB’s facebook page.
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| Beautiful TITTO silk scarves... |
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| More scarves from HERMIONE DE PAULA. |