Bonjour KL: Young aspiring Malaysian designers steal the show at the country's International Shoe Festival

Shoes, shoes shoes… my recent (and maiden!) trip to Malaysia has turned out to be all about shoes!

And I don’t mean just shoe shopping! Although that was firmly on my list to do (check out my love for Malaysian shoe labels here), believe it or not, I got to do more interesting shoe-related stuff namely attending the annual Shoe Festival in Kuala Lumpur and meeting shoe legend Jimmy Choo for lunch!

I’ll discuss the latest in another post as I still need to get my head around the fact I was with the Godfather of glamorous shoes himself!!!! But today it’s going to be all about the talented students I met at the 4^th International Shoe Festival and the utterly inspiring shoes they displayed!

The Shoe Festival seemed more like a museum with showpieces like
this Dragon-inspired pump which just loved!

Another extravagant design on display at the Shoe Festival...

But while some went all out, others kept it more simple yet inspiring.
I especially loved these booties!!!

Love these shoes made from recycled material by promising student Soo Tzu Hoo!
I WANT!!! (check a lot more photos below)

Toton Fall/Winter 2013: Of love, Lurik and other things…

I’m not just a big fan of Indonesian label TOTON. I’m one of their very first customers and a proud owner of some stunning pieces from their SS13 collection last year. Truth is, I am obsessed with it! (you can read more about that in my previous Q&A with the designer).

So despite following up with the collections and trends at all the international fashion weeks this season not to mention attending one, the collection that I was really waiting for was TOTON’s.

And it was well worth the wait! In fact, it was even more than what I anticipated and from the looks of it, the designer is determined on sticking to his vision of presenting traditional Indonesian techniques in a modern – even Avant-garde – interpretation.

When East meets West: My top 5 picks from ‘I Love Designer’

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.

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!

Behind The Scenes: Styling up Zardoze's giveaway winner with some glamour

One of the many many reasons I love being a personal stylist is witnessing someone step into something out of the ordinary and instantly evolve into the best version of themselves (on the outside that is!)

There is something very satisfying about looking into their faces as they gaze in the mirror and feel confident and happy with the way they look.

And this why I was as excited as Nie Yile (the winner of my Zardoze giveaway contest last Jan) whom I finally had the chance to style and shop with for some outfits and accessories from the label, worth a whopping S$500!!!

Yile was younger than I expected and looked even much younger when I met her, so the first challenge was to try to find something suitable for her age, lifestyle and her tiny 5 foot 1 figure – knowing that Zardoze does mainly cocktail and evening wear.

Midnight in the Garden: Statement handmade accessories for your summer wardrobe

It seems everywhere I go in Singapore, I keep stumbling upon more and more cool accessories labels popping up from this little island. And of course I'm not complaining :-)

My latest of which is Midnight in the Garden, a vibrant hand crafted accessories label by local art teacher Ade G., who decided to turn her hobby of assembling jewellery trinkets into a small business and most importantly share her creations with the rest of us.

Stocked at one of the coolest accessories shop in town – What Women Want in Mandarin Gallery – I first spotted the label last summer and was drawn like a magpie to the vibrant colours and quirky designs in her collections which stand out immediately. So it came no surprise when I learned that the designer is influenced by her art  training and through combining different element, she tries to play with unconventional compositions to create something very individual about her style.

I love the chic with a twist look of this gorgeous necklace, hand-made by
art teacher Ade for her label 'Midnight in the Garden'

And some bang on trend colourful rings for summer!