HOT BODIES: A Heatwear Exhibition Explores Fashion’s Future in Warming Singapore

PUBLISHED November 26th, 2025 07:30 am | UPDATED November 28th, 2025 01:21 am

In a climate that grows more unforgiving with each passing summer, what we choose to wear has never felt more urgent. HOT BODIES: A Heatwear Exhibition, opening 6 December at New Bahru, is not just a fashion showcase, it’s a provocation. It asks: what if instead of avoiding the heat, we reimagined how we live with it?

Presented by global brand practice Anak, in collaboration with the DesignSingapore Council and supported by the SG Eco Fund, HOT BODIES situates Singapore, a city perpetually steeped in humidity, as both muse and test lab. The exhibition responds to our “air-con nation” dilemma with a sharp pivot: garments that work with the elements instead of against them.

Curated by Anak’s founder Hanyi Lee, and informed by heat expert Associate Professor Jason Lee, the collection comprises ten radically rethought fashion pieces, from conceptual showstoppers to wearable tools of resilience. Think of it less as a wardrobe, more as a climate-conscious manifesto stitched into fabric.

Among the headliners is The Sun Shell by French artist Jean Jullien, a UPF 50 sun cape that doubles as a play cloak, making protection feel like dress-up. The Self-Conditioner by London-based designer HARRI is a surreal, inflatable cocoon, both defiance and design in one breath-holding silhouette. TANCHEN Studio’s Cool Collar offers a cooling system disguised as jade jewellery, while The Windcatcher by Vietnamese label The Idiot reframes airflow as fashion detail.

Other contributors push the envelope further: BUJ Studio’s Second Skin, made from biomaterials and plant waste, speculates on our biological evolution; Greater Goods’ Solar Harness and Weather Jacket turn sustainability and utility into city survival gear. From Japan’s Front Office comes the 38° Suit, reimagining menswear in the language of yukata and summer tailoring, while Malaysia’s FERN introduces UV-reactive batik sarongs that shift in sunlight.

This is more than aesthetic provocation. The exhibition includes an Emporium of practical heatwear for daily use such as sunscreen pouches, hydration kits, even sun-activated accessories, and workshops that extend the conversation into community practice. Think: weekly “Sunblock Face Paint Party”, a sunscreen testing bar, hydration bar and one-time only programmes with Vogue Singapore, Moom Health, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners.

“But as it becomes more and more relevant to the rest of the world, we thought it was time we asked how design can not only protect us, but also inspire new ways of living? The future of fashion and Heatwear must be reimagined so that we can thrive, not just cope, with a future hotter than ever.” says Lee.

Ultimately, the exhibition doesn’t just cool the skin, it warms the imagination. What does it mean to be ‘hot’ in the 21st century? HOT BODIES doesn’t give you an answer. It lets you wear the question.

---

HOT BODIES runs from 6 to 28 December 2025 at New Bahru. Admission is free. Visit hotbodies-tmr.com or follow @hotbodies.tmr for updates and programming.