BOB | Best of British Trunk Show

Fir and I had the pleasure of attending the BOB | Best of British Autumn/ Winter 2012 - 2013 Trunk Show held by Glamour Inc on Wednesday. In case you didn't know, the trunk show has helped to pave the way for emerging as well as established British designers, such as Mary Katrantzou and KTZ, who would like to enter Asian markets.

At the recent trunkshow, we saw a studio full of works by Antoni & Alison, Haizhen Wang, Hermione de Paula, Pazuki, Vivien Sheriff, Pauric Sweeney, Amishi and more. There were also some of the usual favourites that we saw at the last trunk show - Belle Sauvage, Boudicca and KTZ.

The trunk show was a first hand experience of what its really like to be a buyer/ merchandiser picking out labels that have market potential in Singapore. And the entry of new names and labels every year really attests to the growing fashion scene here. Consumers in Singapore are open to shopping and buying beyond the more established fashion houses like Chanel, Gucci and Prada, and this can only be a good thing.

The upcoming season proves to be as refreshing as Spring/Summer is, since we saw racks and racks of clothes with bright pops of colour. Another trend that will continue through Autumn/ Winter is that of prints. As our guide Rice clearly pointed out, London is going crazy over prints, and in my opinion, no one does prints like the British designers.

On a side note, I must say that it is impressive that British designers get so much support back home. I recently read up about the British Fashion Council, an ad hoc group that supports the British fashion industry actively. Their aim is to showcase British designers and develop London’s position as a major player in the international fashion arena. Besides working closely with UK's fashion colleges, the BFC also provides support schemes and resources to budding British designers. A few of their latest initiatives include NEWGEN an emerging designer initiative sponsored by Topshop and the Fashion Forward awards. Another way to get British fashion designers out there is through the help of big wigs such as Victoria Beckham, and newly minted BFC Young Style Ambassador, Alexa Chung.
It is nice to know that in the UK, the fashion industry is getting such tremendous support. This brings me to the question of whether Singapore will ever be ready to be a fashion capital. Perhaps someday, and perhaps, it would be good to follow in the footsteps of this fashion capital.

Stay tuned to the next few posts where Fir and myself will pick out some of our favourites from the trunk show.



♥,
Fal