Isetan: Bringing Jakarta Fashion Week to Singapore!

Ever since getting to know and blogging about  Indonesian labels like Toton and Nikicio, Jakarta has been put firmly on my to-go to list for Bonjour on Tour! It seems wherever you go, Asia is a hotbed of fashion creativity.

But until I finally get on that plane (hopefully around the beginning of November for Jakarta Fashion Week), I have to settle for a rare taste of these talents thanks to Isetan Singapore which has organized a Designers’ Week’ event in collaboration with JFW.

Isetan is one of the big department stores in Singapore which I really like, because they stock a variety of local designers, especially emerging ones and thus expose them to a more mainstream crowd. It is something I respect them for.

So when I heard about their Designers’ Week event – which is running until September 25 and is held at Re-Style section on Scotts which stocks the local designers’ labels - I went to check it out only to discover some amazing labels which I previously didn’t know about.

How can you not love these colourful necklaces from Indonesian
label Antyk Butyk?

Something quirky and unique! I'm sooo in love with this
Frej necklace made of pencils!!!

Lewre: Shoes fit for a Princess (or the Duchess of Cambridge)

In my last post, while admiring Kate’s choices of clothes in the Royals’ Singapore visit, I couldn’t help but notice her uninspiring choice of footwear.

From the LK Bennet nude pumps which are too plain and dated (she even wore them to meet Jimmy Choo himself!!) to her navy blue wedges… I mean wedges, come on Kate???

The good news is that someone else - the Malaysian royals - has also noticed, and decided to do something about it. For amongst the lavish gifts exchanged on landing in Kuala Lumpur was a pair of custom-made Lewre shoes.

I've expressed my love for Malaysia's best fashion export - shoes - on this blog before. And after seeing kate's gift – an exquisite and delicate pair of black lace peep toe heels– I could not be more convinced.

The gorgeous Lewre pair of heels and clutch which the Duchess of Cambridge got as a
present from the Malaysian Royals!

Kate and William: Championing Singapore labels!

So the Duchess of Cambridge (a.k.a. Kate Middleton) has left Singapore today. But her effect will certainly be felt - especially when it comes to Singapore fashion.

Kate is known for picking the right and diplomatic choices for her overseas visits and it was the same case here where among her handful of wardrobe changes were a gorgeous dress by Singapore-born Prabal Gurung and an ensemble by RAOUL, which came rather as a surprise.

But my question is, did we really need the Duchess to wear a local designer to make us realize that they do exist, and make beautiful clothes for that matter?

The Duchess of Cambridge looked lovely in her RAOUL top
and skirt. Still wish she makes more effort in her shoe choices
though! Oh well...

Bonjour Bangkok: The end of the world at Nisa and Friends

One of the greatest joys I get from this blog is getting to discover kick ass new designers from Singapore and across south-east Asia.

There’s so much talent out there and nothing gives me greater pleasure than doing a tiny bit to help expose them to a slightly wider audience.

So it’s is no surprise that the highlight of my recent trip to Bangkok was stumbling over a humble genius, whose label and shop was launched just over a month ago.

Walking through one of the alleys of Siam Square, a tiny shop space crammed to bursting point with a rainbow of colourful printed scarves called out to me, beckoning me over by standing out from the rows of generic identikit clothes on offer.

The shop was called Nisa – and it was my immense fortune that one of the designers, Namwan (Sirintra), was inside and only too happy talk about her new baby.

This Ocean Symphony dress was my first pick... love it!!!

Parco next NEXT A/W12 Preview

There is no doubt that the 2012 class of Parco NEXT Next labels was the strongest yet.

Taken as a collective whole they were more eclectic, innovative and interesting than before. But like a great band that hits the big time with their first album, the pressure is on.

As these fledgling labels get ready to launch into their second season, the questions on my lips were simple. Can they take these promising starts and grow as brands, evolving their style and learning lessons from their first collections?

In other words, would the learning curve continue or would some of the labels suffer from second album syndrome?