PUBLISHED December 13th, 2012 12:47 am | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 03:18 pm
In case you missed it (you missed out! check out the Part 1 feature here) Singapore recently hosted a landmark fashion event, Fide Fashion Week, which proved to be a spectacular homage, not only to international talent, but to Asian designers doing big things in the Couture world. With so much on offer, a sartorial feast for the eyes if you will, it made me wonder why we continuously look West for fashion guidance when, from what what I saw, Asian designers are writing their own Couture history. If this event proved anything, we certainly have the talent, skill, flair and the imagination – our French friends had better watch out! My review of Fide Fashion week continues…
Day 3
Day 3 was all about Singapore’s very own fashion maestro, Thomas Wee. Since his induction into the fashion industry as a young finalist in a design contest in 1978, he has shown in every major Asian city, owned his own high-end boutique, launched the very first career wear line for women in Singapore by a Singapore Designer, launched a number of diffusion lines, and taught and nurtured new talent through the Parco Next NEXT incubator program, organized by Spring Singapore and the Textile and Fashion Federation of Singapore. Very busy man! Today, he is a senior advisory lecturer at First Media Design School, helming the fashion design faculty, whilst simultaneously designing his own collections.
Known as ‘the grand master of precision tailoring’, Wee’s style is instantly recognizable through his impeccable workmanship, cutting edge 3D forms and innovation in his apparel. Indeed his show displayed these talents impeccably. By using a limited colour palate of black and white, the focus was on structural forms (almost cocoon-like on occasion, bringing to mind the caterpillar to butterfly metamorphosis) and extended proportions. Pops of colour took it far from sombre and injected some high gloss and glamour.
Couturier Pour Homme, Marc-Antoine Barrois, seemed to march his collection through the fashion ages with inspiration seemingly taken from multiple eras. A highlight for me was this look, which admittedly is not for the more conservative gentleman, but totally fabulous!
Day 4
French Couture Week kicked off its first night with the mesmerising show of Yiqing YIN. Her collection struck a perfect balance of beautiful craftsmanship, inventive structure, intuitive design, and an inherent sexiness. I adored this ‘little red riding hood’ homage made futuristic by the use of abstract shape, twisting and elongation.
Next up was Maurizio Galante whose fun, flamboyance showed extraordinarily delicate techniques and skill, but also a light-hearted aesthetic that made many of us smile (and wish we could own a piece of his collection and just totally rock out in it!)
Finally, Julien Fournié had us all boogie-ing in our seats as he paid tribute to the 80s disco decade. The girls looked amazing with their afros, glittered faces and ‘woooohoo’ attitude! And when I say strutting, I mean… SERIOUSLY strutting down the catwalk, you could tell that they were having fun and the mood was catching. Neon colours, sexy silhouettes, and details reminiscent of a Ziggy Stardust roller disco, quite frankly had me wishing that Julien Fournie was my best friend. He seems like a cool dude!
With the crowd buzzing with excitement and a palpable energy in the air, day four was over and all our wardrobes suddenly seemed a bit lacklustre! Hot pink on everything from now on!
Stay tuned for the final installment….
Written by Heh Zee
Huge thanks to Jansen Siak at WomComm and his team for inviting us to be their guests.