When I met I Love Designer founder G. Bond on my last trip in London, she was on a mission. As a product of Eastern and Western upbringing herself, she wanted to create a platform where East meets West specifically when it comes to creative and emerging talents.
Her recently launched e-boutique - which specializes in luxury accessories - is certainly one to stand out, as it carefully selects beautiful products from various parts of the world.
And while big brand names from both sides of the worlds are ever so expanding nowadays, smaller, independent boutique brands are much harder to get hold of unless you live in that specific city or part of the world where they happen to exist.
This is exactly where I Love Designer comes as an exciting new place where all these cool brands have become available regardless which part of the world you live in.
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| Rocking this Queen of Hearts bangle certainly takes some attitude!! I'm in love with this piece from Manish Arora for Amrapali collection available on the site! |
Of course, I’m a big fan of those who are not afraid to be different and offer something more exciting than mass-produced and mainstream fashion so even though based in London, this site has caught my attention and earned a spot on my Asia-focused blog.
Not to mention that they took the whole bridging of East and West concept seriously and chose to host their 2nd launch here in Singapore, their eastern hub if you like.
I’m also told that there are talks to even bring some Singaporean emerging designers on board in the near future to introduce them to their international customer base.
Until then, I’ll leave you with my list of top 5 items on I Love Designer and believe me it was really hard to pick just 5!!
This is probably the hottest collaboration in the world of accessories at the moment as renowned Indian designer Manish Arora has teamed with one of the most luxurious jewellery brands there is – Amrapali – to produce traditional inspired yet quirky collection echoing Arora’s signature style.
The whole collection is stunning and has everything for everyone. From subtle hooped crystal earrings to the Bengal tiger statement cuffs and the insanely beautiful Queen of Hearts bangle - which is certainly not for the faint-hearted. I could not pick one piece only no matter how much I tried, so here is a selection on the ones which caught my eye the most.
I’m not really big on beauty trends especially when it comes to fake eyelashes. I find them, well just too fake. But these fun laser-cut paper lashes are a different story as they are more of a cool statement accessory than an attempt to look like a Japanese doll. I especially love the intricate peacock design, perfect for a clubbing night out with the girls! As I always say, if you’re going for drama, why not go all the way – in a quirky way.
I’ve blogged about these beauties a while back when I spotted them in Bali so it’s great to see there is finally an online stockist to get them from wherever you are in the world! Even better, I Love Designer carries a wide range of different colours and styles from the Balinese label. What else could I ask for?
I’ve never been as obsessed with statement earrings as I am at the moment! It could be that my new and much shorter haircut is more suitable for such earrings than before or just that these specific Isharya ones are too pretty to not want to swoon over.
The uber cool label – which has been worn by a lot of Hollywood celebrities – uses just the right amount of bling in a classy manner to create something as suitable to jazz up a t-shirt and jeans combo as it is perfect with a ball gown.
These cuffs are a further demonstration of how if worn in the right amount, exotic leather can be beautiful and class (are you listening Cavalli?). I’ve fallen for these exquisite statement cuffs, made from dyed ostrich leather and complemented with crystals around the edge to give it that luxurious finish and contrasting textures. Making a statement has never been so subtle, tasteful yet exotic as this!
