Joining the Red Army

With Chinese New Year still going on, it's hard not to feel the festive cheer. For the more fortunate ones like me with tighter-knit families and smaller groups of relatives, Chinese New Year is a pretty enjoyable period where cousins of the same wavelength (very important), quirky uncles and blur aunties come together to feast and make merry. I cannot remember a Chinese New Year which wasn't cacophonous with family members practically shouting in order to be heard or screaming with laughter till the neighbours got annoyed over Black Jack with wine, beer and an overdose of pop music or just a good conversation with good-natured suan-ing all around. Sure it gets tiring, but hey, it's still family and I'd rather too much noise over dead, awkward silence. As always, part of the fun of new year comes in dressing up. As I don't have many places to visit annually (yay for me) and my parents are cool with my clothes (most of the time), I don't really have to watch what I wear. In fact, it works as long as it's new. However because this is the dragon year and apparently us poor dragon kids somehow offended the 'tai sui' or some other big shot up in the heavens, I'm joining the Red Army and Fal is my fellow comrade. Red isn't my colour of choice and the number of real reds in my wardrobe is countable with ten fingers. I'm making an exception this new year and hoping that it brings on better things to come in the new year.

The switch back to the non-red options is inevitable of course, just look at the gorgeous nude, pastel, monochrome and printed offerings that S/S12 had off the runway.

Lanvin

Marni for some yellow

Black and white with Lanvin

Marni again and I'm loving the clashing prints 

Marni taking on the florals

Roberto Cavalli  

Kudos to Roberto Cavalli's crazy prints

Happy New Year everyone!

♥,
Fir

In Full Bloom

Flowers are set to blossom in spring and the runways were adorned with floral prints in all shapes, sizes and hues. My favorite floral prints of the season are the bright, crazy and modern take on florals - tropical flowers picked fresh from Proenza Schouler's S/S 2012 show, Hawaiian blossoms from Altuzzara's runways and Belle Sauvage and Mary Katrantzou's digitally manipulated but ultra modern floral prints in clashing hues and bright colours. I can't wait to get my hands on these floral prints, and I know my wardrobe will thank me as it comes to life again this spring.

Mood board by me.



♥,
Fal

Chinese New Year Goodies

I'm back after 3 days of stuffing myself silly with Chinese New Year goodies, and I hope I'm not too late to wish all our readers a Happy Lunar New Year!

I hope everyone had a good time collecting ang baos and stuffing yourselves with pineapple tarts, yu sheng and bak kwa too because I definitely did, although I'm starting to suffer the side effect of having too much good food (where has my waistline gone?!). Chinese New Year has got to be my favorite holiday for so many reasons besides the food - meeting up with friends and family members, sleeping in, gambling the night away and last but not least, watching everyone deck themselves up in their new Chinese New Year clothes.

My colour of choice - red. I decided to take the traditional route this year by wearing this auspicious colour which symbolises prosperity, wealth and luck for the year ahead. The accessories were all from Amado Gudek. A resin bauble ring with gold foil within (something that I won from Amado Gudek's Facebook competition) and a water dragon-ish hand-molded necklace (coincedentally we're in the year of the water dragon now) which was a gift from Elaine who is the designer of Amado Gudek. 

Clockwise from top left: Maroon shift dress - Zara, Necklace - Amado Gudek, Ring - Amado Gudek, Red Dress - H&M

Here are some other shots of the pieces from Amado Gudek. I didn't manage to wear the earrings that Elaine gave, but don't they look like auspicious Chinese knots! 

Once again, Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you'll have a great year ahead filled with lots of prosperity! Huat ah!

♥,
Fal

Meet Lishan

I met Lishan a few years back at dressmaking class, before she went abroad to pursue a course in Apparel Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. Back then, she was already sketching gorgeous fashion illustrations and coming up with creative ideas for the pieces that she was going to sew in class. Last year, Lishan visited us at dressmaking class again. The two years into her course at Rhode Island School of Design had unleashed her potential in apparel design. Showing us her portfolio of design and sketches while we ooohh-ed and aaah-ed, her works truly took our breath away. And that's why, I decided that we had to feature Lishan (and her works) on thefword, because we really want to share our excitement about this budding (she's only 21!) and talented designer (who is definitely going to make it in the fashion world someday).

Read more about the email interview with Lishan below.

What do you like best about the course you're currently pursuing?
I love Three Dimensional work and Apparel Design gives me the opportunity to create structures
and forms that transform and flatter the body. What I like best about apparel design is that I am
still able to play with geometry and hard edges, like an architect, but use fabric to create my
vision rather than be restricted to building materials.

What would you be doing if you weren't pursuing this degree?
If I wasn’t pursuing this degree, I might have possibly been doing english literature and I had a
choice to do that in Boston University. But as it is, I think that pursuing this degree was the right
choice for me.

Tell us a bit about your aesthetics.
My aesthetic is edgy and modern, but at the same time, beautiful and elegant while maintaining
a high level of workmanship and a cohesive colour palette. I am interested in constantly
challenging myself to create garments that have a new silhouette, to use techniques that
haven’t been used before, or to reinvent past styles.

Tell us more about your latest collection, Blood and Bone, and what inspired you to come up with this collection.
The theme of this collection was to take aspects of the internal structures of human anatomy
and transform and project it as external structures that function as apparel over our bodies.
These garments are inspired from old medical illustrations from books like Gray’s Anatomy and
namely this one illustration “L'ange Anatomique” by the renowned French illustrator Jacques
Fabien Gautier d'Agoty where the woman looks as though she has a beautiful dress on, but its
really her ribcage. Creepy yes, but beautiful.

What is your favorite piece in this collection?
My favourite piece in this collection is the black jacket with the machine knit overlay. It is edgy
and sculptural, yet it is still wearable and practical. It keeps you very warm too.

Tell us why you're proud of this collection and why it's outstanding.
I think that there is a very strong theme running (through the collection) that is immediately obvious without the viewers having to figure out what it could be.

Also, I employed unconventional techniques in machine knitting which create silhouettes that are different from what most would (usually) create. And finally, the details in my work enhance the value of it, keeping the pieces subtle yet sophisticated reflecting the professional quality of it.

What are your plans after graduation?
I would first like to get a job as a designer in a fashion house (preferably doing Haute Couture).
Of course, I will take what I can get, in order to learn more about the industry and the way a fashion
business is run, and to get to know more people in this industry.

I aspire to have my own label  after getting a few years of experience or work up the ladder in a company so that I can be in charge of the artistic direction of the company.

If you could have your own label after you graduate, what would it be like? Describe it in 3
words.
Quality, beauty and edgy.

Finally, any plans to participate in Project Runway?
Maybe one day, when I have enough experience to be confident of churning out beautiful looks
in a day. Until then, I’ll be working towards attaining that level of skills...

View Lishan's complete portfolio here.


♥,
Fal

Swedish Powerhouse

If you haven't already heard, Swedish fashion giant H&M and Swedish fashion blogger Elin Kling have collaborated to create a collection. I have mad love for both - H&M being my favorite high street brand, and Elin Kling being one of my fashion idols for her effortlessly cool, laidback and sophisticated sense of style. Sadly, this collection will only be carried at H&M outlets in Sweden.

I wish someone would just fly me to Stockholm now, so I can see this collection and take in all its minimalistic and cool goodness. Yes, the collection is that awesome, and I have photographic evidence to prove that.

♥,
Fal

Brand Profile: Amado Gudek

Amado Gudek was conceived by local jewellery designer, Elaine Tan, who creates sculptured art jewellery. Passionate about fashion and art, she pursued a master's in Fashion Brand Management in London and took up summer courses in jewellery making at Central Saints Martins. Amado Gudek is not your run of the mill hand sculptured or hand made jewellery line. Everything is a little quirky and odd, and every single piece is a statement piece in itself. There is in an interesting juxtaposition between organic and synthetic - the pieces are inspired by nature (from reindeers to sea bubbles) but all made out of brightly coloured resin. The designer confesses that such kookiness stemmed from her time in London, where she drew inspiration from the city's expressive, eccentric and experimental art scene.

Amado Gudek's latest collection, Anti-Antler, is a testament to the brand's quirkiness. Inspired by (what else but) the reindeer, a strong message is delivered through the collection - saying no to hunting reindeers for their antlers. Perhaps an ironic but fitting way to deliver this message was to shape all the pieces in the form of antlers, named after the cutest of deers - Bambi and Rudolph.

Amado Gudek stands out from other local jewellery designers with its 100% sculpted jewellery pieces. Behind every piece is a well-thought through story which has not deviated from its proposition of transforming elements of nature into wearable pieces. Wear an Amado Gudek piece and you know you've got yourself a piece of art.


Amado Gudek can be found at:

Dulcetfig: 41 Haji Lane, Singapore 189234
Quintessential: Pacific Plaza, 9 Scotts Road, #02-01, Singapore 228210
The Reckless Shop: Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, #02-08/09 Singapore 238896
Eclecticism: Paragon Shopping Centre, 290 Orchard Road, #03-08, Singapore 238859


Alternatively, email Elaine at Elaine@amadogudek.com for retail enquiries. 



♥,
Fal

Better late

So yes, its 4 days into the new year - how has 2012 been panning out for you so far? Fir and myself sincerely apologize for not wishing everyone a Happy new year earlier, but here it is anyway,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011 has been a roller coaster for us with so many changes in our lives - crossing paths with so many new people, making new friends and trying out new things. But there's really no time to look back because we're looking ahead to 2012, we hope you are too.

For now, we hope you'll keep checking back, and we'll try to be less tardy in our posting!

Snapshot of an awesome moment together in 2011 (I look psychotic here please do not judge)

♥,
Fal