Bonjour Beirut: Dina Khalifé’s playful silk prints

Note: this is the first of 8 posts on Lebanese designers and cool emerging labels I met/discovered on my trip back home. Knowing there are so many talents in Beirut I couldn’t reach while living abroad, was behind my inspiration to explore the emerging designers in what has quickly become my second home, Singapore.

I hope you enjoy this series and can see that regardless where you are in the world, there are some amazing talents out there who deserve to be known everywhere else. So keep reading and join me on this part of my journey which is very dear to my heart.

Dina Khalifé

Dina Khalifé's vibrant prints are just so charming!

Who knew that in my recent visit back home, I would find out that one of my dear university friends has recently launched a fashion label?

Dina was my classmate at university majoring in Graphic Design, and always had a thing for doodling and illustration. It seems she has finally found a way to bring her cute illustrations to life, through silk scarves, separates and enamel accessories.

My Week as a Street Style Star

The past week has been a big ‘style’ week for me.

While I’m not big on ‘outfit of the day’ style posts on my blog, I was more than happy and extremely flattered to pose for street style photographers and bloggers (including Tokyo’s Rei Shito!), who captured my outfits at some of the Audi Fashion Festival shows (go to my media page to check them out).

the week was made even better by the fact that the post in her blog Style From Tokyo was ranked in the top 10 outfits of the day across the world by sartorial aggregation site Street Style News. 

But aside from these moment-in-time kind of photos, there was one style blog (lilreddotfolks.com) which wanted a little more; a-few-hours-long street style candid shoot, showcasing my personal style around my neighborhood, plus a little fun Q&A.

The shoot included a non-avoidable close up... do I look angry here?

Shoes versus bags – who is the winner? You of course!

While shoes and bags don’t always co-exist peacefully (remember the shoeholic /bagaholic war?), it turns out all they need is some balance whether in a shop or put together for an outfit.

I’ve recently visited Sole2Sole which despite the name, is actually a boutique that stocks as many awesome bags as it does shoes, and would win any bagaholic’s heart too.

And even I, a self-confessed shoeholic, couldn’t help but love the variety of unique handbags at Sole2Sole. The reason? Well they’re so much fun and interesting and couldn’t be more far from generic!

How much fun is this dress-up dolly handbag from LuLu Guinness? I'd be playing with it all day!!!

Blueprint Singapore: 7 emerging labels to lust after

And so it’s over in flash. Singapore’s biggest week of fashion was over far too soon.

And despite the AFF shows stealing the spotlight last week, there was one event which I was very keen on attending: The Blueprint tradeshow.

Unlike the emporium, the tradeshow is not a place to shop but it’s a closed exhibition for labels and buyers to interact; and for emerging designers to bag some regional or international stockists which would help their labels grow.

As a member of the media (who got selected invites), I was present on Thursday and Friday and it was one of the most interesting events I’ve been to in Singapore so far. I got to discover and spot some amazing Asian and emerging labels which have all what it takes to be the next big thing.

New Indonesian label TOTON simply blew me away at Blueprint...
From clothes to accessories and shoes, every piece looked stunning!

Audi Fashion Festival: Singapore designers dress and impress

 Apart from the Parco next NEXT designers’ show, (yup the one I was in!), Singaporean designers had a fair share of spotlight this year at Audi Fashion Festival.

Of course I would have loved to see more of the local labels represented but the turnout and the vibe was good start – and hopefully a platform for what is an incredibly strong bunch of labels this year.

The main show I went to was Singapore designers showcase which featured 3 labels: Saturday, Depression and a.w.o.l. – I also made it to see alldressedup’s show after label owners Lionel Leo and Tina Tan-Leo kindly invited me.

alldressedup provided one of the highlights of the show with their elegant,
wearable but slightly edgy collection