Naomi Campbell to walk for Singaporean designer at Digital Fashion Week 2013!!!

Yup... the secret that I've been keeping from you for a few month now, is finally revealed: This year's Digital Fashion Week's guest model is none other than the One and Only British supermodel Naomi Campbell!

Controversial? Maybe. Legendary and simply un-matched as a model? Definitely! My heart almost skipped a beat when for the first time I was told that she might be coming to Singapore for DFW - especially that I will be co-hosting the event like last year! (Check out my involvment and coverage of last year's event here).

And while I got to interview the awesome Andrej Pejic last year, I'm now terrified at the prospect of meeting her backstage, let alone talking to her in front of the camera.

I cannot wait! And what I'm mostly happy about is that to have such a legendary model not just show up at the event but also walk for a Singaporean designer! Yes, she won’t be there just to show her ‘super’ pretty face and bod, she will actually be walking for one of the local designers who is opening DFW. Such a move will definitely guarantee that the world will be watching what’s going on the Singaporean fashion scene.

Digital Fashion Week 2013: Dressing the Screen exhibition

Yes, Digital Fashion Week (DFW) is returning this year. And yes once again I will be hosting it alongside my dear friend and gorgeous host Yvette from Tanjong Bazaar. 

But the thing I’m so excited about in this second edition is the amount of local Singaporean talent it is showcasing as well as its fringe event which combines two of my favourite things: fashion and film.

Prepare yourself as there will be more coverage coming up about DFW closer to the date and some AMAZING SURPRISES you never guessed (wink wink I cannot tell you yet!!!) but this particular post is about the event which is happening with the support of the British Council and starts end of this week.

I am taking about the ‘Dressing the Screen: The Rise of Fashion Film’ exhibition which will showcase works by some of the world’s best fashion designers and film-makers from varying angles and perspectives – all through a series of films put together by respected British curator Katheryn Ferguson.

Audi Star Creation 2012 Winners: Q&A with Thailand's Soravit Kaewlamon, one year on!

The last interview of the three part series with Audi Star Creation 2012 winners (the other two are here and here) is with the boldest of all three: Soravit Kaewkamon from Thailand.

If you're familiar with the Bangkok fashion scene then you'd know that it is probably the most colourful and fun of all Asia. From prints to cuts and daring designs the Thai designers love to experiment and Soravit is no different.

After seeing her menswear winning collection, I'm looking forward to see the designer's complimentary womenswear collection which she will be showing at AFF next week!

So why did she switch to womenswear? Will it be as bold as the first one and what are her future plans? Find out this talented designer's answers below!

(P.S. I've giving away 5 pairs of tickets to watch the ASC winners show at AFF. Find out more on facebook).

What I wore to London Fashion Week A/W13

Fashion weeks these days are as much about the shows, new trends and designers as they are about streetstyle. But nothing prepared me to the streetstyle mayhem at Somerset House where it was more like paparazzi frenzy!

The decision to attend London Fashion Week this year came late and I hardly had any time to prepare – or pack any outfits to bring from Singapore. But even if I did plan, my outfits after living eight years between Dubai and Singapore meant very little I owned was suitable for the freezing London temperatures.

But it’s not all bad. While I didn’t have time (or the budget) to shop for an LFW wardrobe I did manage to recycle the outfits I had worn and mix and match them with accessories and a few pieces I picked up between London and Beirut in the past few months.

Almost all my LFW wardrobe was recycled from stuff I had already worn and
owned for years! And when I have a bad hair day, my kafeyya is still the best solution ;-)

London Fashion Week: Huishan Zhang does East meets West at its best

It might be surprising to some that the majority of the London-based Asian designers who showed at LFW did not force their cultural or ethnic backgrounds into their designs.

And while it was a refreshing change to see designers from the East feeling confident enough to simply design beautiful and wearable clothes sans any ethnic twist or gimmick, there is something to be said for keeping your influences subtly on display.

Step forward Huishan Zhang, the Chinese-born designer held a mainstream LFW show and demonstrated that it is possible to nod to tradition without being a total cliché.

I mean, a man who considers the picture of Chinese elegance that is Maggie Cheung his ultimate style icon isn’t going to veer off into making asymmetrical monochrome prints with conical bras and Grecian draping is he?

Best of 2012: Bonjour Awards PART 2

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

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).

What I wore: My 10 Digital Fashion Week outfits

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

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!!!

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: Day two line-up and day one highlights

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

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 

Digital Fashion Week: Interview with JR Chan of Singapore menswear -J-A-S-O-N-

Singaporean men really are a spoiled bunch...when it comes to fashion.

Considering this is still very much an emerging fashion market, there are a surprisingly large number of more avant garde labels peddling an increasingly diverse series of looks aimed at the modern male.

From the established labels and six year veterans like Depression to the new kids on the block like MASH-UP, MILS, EvenOdd and now even local icon Thomas Wee is about to launch a menswear collection. The truth is guys, you've never had it so good.

At the forefront of the Singapore man renaissance is -J-A-S-O-N-, a brand that has been around for a year and a half and already has a reputation for it's androgynous shapes and quirky twists on conventional tailoring.

Designer JR Chan took the Bonjour Singapore Q&A ahead of her appearance at Digital Fashion Week. Here's what she had to say.

Digital Fashion Week: Pictures from the press conference

Digital Fashion Week kicked off in earnest yesterday, with the arrival of the celebrity guests and the press conference officially announcing the event.

Yes – I was gathered in the same room as SATC stylist Patricia Field, ANTM winner Sophie Sumner and Andrej Pejic and watched in awe as my beautiful co-host Yvette King introduced DFW to the media and other Singapore bloggers.

I stood toe to toe with the husband of the genius that is Guo Pei(she'll be arriving at a later date) and I was able to give Eugene Lin my gratitude for his heartfelt and passionate views on the Singapore fashion scene.

An incredible talent line-up for Digital Fashion Week - and me in the corner :-)
On the sofa: Yvette King, Andrej Pejic, Patricia Field, Sophie Sumner, Guo Pei's husband
Jack representing her.
Back row: JR Chan (J-A-S-O-N), Johanna and Juang (Ownmuse), Tze Goh, Eugene Lin,
Pauline Lim (Paulne.Ning) and me :-)

And most importantly, I was able to get some photos. Having already read my Q&As, I know that’s what you want to see - pictures of beautiful people and me being a star-struck teenager.

Patricia Field, Andrej Pejic and Guo Pei headline Digital Fashion Week in Singapore

Those of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter will already know this (if you don’t follow me then why not!!), but I am extremely excited to have been asked to be a co-host on the world’s first Digital Fashion Week (DFW).

DFW is an amazing new Singapore-based project that is a “shoppable live streaming fashion week”.

It’s basically an entire fashion week streamed online in partnership with YouTube, with no front row, none of the nonsense and posturing that comes with fashion shows AND the ability to be able to buy the clothes as you watch.

I will be doing live one-on-one interviews on Google+ after every show, so you will probably get sick of the sight of me soon :-). But WAY more exciting than that is the superstar line-up that will be in town later in three weeks time.

It’s been a big secret and it’s been so so tough keeping it under wraps but I can finally tell you that the stars of DFW will be none other than supermodel Andrej Pejic , Legendary Fashion Icon Patricia Field and China’s top designer Guo Pei in addition to America’s Next Top Model latest winner Sophie Sumner.

Andrej Pejic will be walking for DFW designers in Singapore! So exciting!!!

The queen of styling herself Patricia Field will be in town as well! Let the
SATC fever begin ;-)

SUNDAY UPDATE - Max Tan at Copenhagen: Exclusive LIVE behind the scenes update

In case you don’t know yet, Singaporean designer Max Tan is taking part in Copenhagen Fashion Week for the coming few days and he’ll be sharing his behind the scenes experience from the VISION tradeshow and his solo fashion show through Bonjour Singapore.

This is going to be a constantly updated post (twice a day at 8pm and 1am Singapore time), where you can follow Max’s journey through his snapshots and words.

You can find out more about Max Tan in Copenhagen Fashion Week and an exclusive look at the SS13 collection he’s showing by reading this story.

Max Tan has arrived in Copenhagen! Check out what he's been up to below...

IEX Asian Heritage: Giving History a Fashionable Twist

Before I became a blogger, fashion played a big part of my life and was an essential component of any of my many travel itineraries. But believe it or not, there was one other thing which interested me (and still interests me) even more and constantly determines my next destinations. I’m talking about art and heritage.

As consumable as fashion might be, I’ve also always considered it to be an art form and a way of expression which has an esteemed place in the greatest museums in the world and has more to it than the surface value. Just one look at how fashion and culture intertwined in history is enough to show its cultural and even social value – from ancient times to modern day.

My idea couldn’t have been translated better than when I witnessed this marriage of heritage, culture and fashion in the shape of the IEX Asian Heritage project which launched this week at the Asian Civilisation Museum.

How cool is it to know that this PAULINE.NING dress was inspired
by a piece of artifact in the museum? And yes, you can even buy
it now! That's museum shopping taken to a different level!

Want more? Here is a scarf and necklace by Diana Tang, a talented young
Singaporean designer who also took inspiration from precious pieces
of Asian history

L'ILE AUX ASHBY Pop Up Store: Showcasing Singapore Talent at its Best

When young Singaporean designer Rayson Tan decides to have his first and highly anticipated pop up store you know one thing is for certain – there’s going to be a lot of colour.

And the L’ILE AUX ASHBY pop-up store at the Glamour Inc. showroom in Tiong Bahru didn’t disappoint – bringing together an eclectic mix of clothes, accessories, artists, bloggers and stylists who seemed to love it loud.

I was very proud to be asked to be a part of this event – especially when I saw the talent that was on display.

This pop up wasn’t really about selling, it was more about fun. A showcase of talent and colour.

It brought together so many creative disciplines, from art to illustration, from photography to nail art and of course fashion. The result was a fabulous mix, all inspired by the colourful and vibrant prints of L’ILE AUX ASHBY.

Who knew I could jump that high? I think those L'ILE AUX ASHBY
pieces I'm wearing gave me superpowers :-)

Everything in the pop up shop was exploding with colour! Love it!

Introducing Singapore's Hot Streetstyle Collaboration...

Forget Versace/H&M, Marni/H&M or whoever/H&M. The hottest collaboration of the year will be taking place next weekend in Singapore.

Of course I’m talking about the L’ILE AUX ASHBY Pop up store and showcase which is taking place in the painfully hip Tiong Bahru area on July 13 and 14.

What’s that I hear you cry? And why is it such a hot event? Well the number one reason is obvious. I’m in it :-)

In all seriousness though, I’m always very excited when cool local designers/artists do collaborations and events which show the extent of their talents. So when I was asked by Rayson Tan, the designer behind  L’ILE AUX ASHBY  to collaborate on a showcase, I was over the moon!

Facebook meets Lookbook at the WED campaign launch

It was a very good night for local and emerging fashion labels yesterday at the W.E.D. (Wear Emerging Designers) campaign launch party. This social media campaign is organized by Blueprint to support local designers and encourage people to wear emerging labels, so that was exactly the kind of event I was hoping for and was more than happy to attend and spread the word about.

It was a great night for me too, as I got snapped by probably every photographer at the event and interviewed for various publications (amongst which is a big media tabloid). However apart from my hair, I have to give the credit for all the attention to my Noel Caleb outfit (yes THAT mullet skirt) which I love so much! It was definitely more colourful than most of the outfits at the event and it stood out for its unique look.

Wearing my favourite Noel Caleb outfit teamed with Papparazi clutch
and the not-so-emerging Zara gladiators (sorry)!