CATEGORIES

Kindred Spirits

From a platform connecting charities and social causes with creatives to a design studio which has mushrooms (yes, fungi) as its primary medium, the eight emerging creative names spotlighted here share the same pursuit as us: challenge the way people see and think.

By Your Side

Drawing on its knack for innovative shapes and effortlessly modern design when it comes to watches and jewellery, Cartier debuts the Double C de Cartier – a leather shoulder bag that proves that the maison might just also be a master of fashion. Ladies, take note.

Wonder Vision

The crystal specialist Swarovski celebrated its 125th anniversary last year with the bold announcement of the fashion plate Giovanna Battaglia Engelbert as its first-ever creative director. This month, the full range of Collection 1 – her debut comprising a dazzling 14 sub-collections – gets released here, along with a new unified brand (you don’t have to try discerning between its different divisions any longer) and boutique concept as bombastic as the jewellery itself. Gordon Ng gets her to share the marvel that she has in store.

Ties That Bind

One year after an assured debut in the world of makeup, Hermes is now revealing its second offering: the Rose Hermes range of blushers. Gordon Ng reports on the art, science and community behind it.

Call Of The Wild

If the original Pocket bag that Burberry introduced last year embodies heritage-made timeless – cue its leather-trimmed canvas make and structured, squarish shape inspired by a shopper from the archives – the Soft Pocket is its independent-minded grown-up sister. With an idiosyncratic trapezoid shape, it’s crafted entirely in calf leather, lending both pliability and a tough edge. In collaboration with the British luxury house, Female introduces four content creators – professional or accidental – with an equally nonconformist streak to watch out for.

A Love Story

Even before he started his holy grail of a namesake website and Instagram account expounding on the world of luxury fashion, Bagaholicboy – designer bag connoisseur and long-time collaborator of Female – made it his quest to demystify the allure of the Chanel 11.12 handbag. Together with the French maison, Female gets him to share about his fascination for this iconic design and how he got a legion of others to love it too.

What Really Goes Into The Making Of A Dress Or Bag?

What really goes into the making of a dress or bag? With the pandemic spurring fashion houses to put the focus back on community and craft, Gordon Ng zeroes in on some Spring/Summer 2021 releases that prove that sometimes, it really does take a village (or going back to one).

A Tribe Called Quest

Behind many of Rolex’s iconic designs are some of the world’s bravest adventurers. Gordon Ng reports on the legacy of the Swiss luxury watchmaker’s enduring support of the explorer community.

Willabelle Ong - The Girl Who Does Everything

Many would classify Willabelle Ong as the archetypal ’90s-born content creator made good. With her work spanning polished, artfully composed Instagram photos of herself showing off the latest fashion must-haves; Tiktok videos that reveal her to be quite the cheeky comedienne; and large-scale abstract expressionist canvas paintings, one can also call her a Renaissance woman for the post-social media age. That and the perfect personality to show off Chloe’s pragmatic-meets-poetic runway pieces for Spring/Summer 2021 meant to evoke feminine strength and hope. Female and the French label put her in the portrait seat.

Magic In The Air

With its iconic accord of rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang and lily of the valley, Dior’s J’Adore is a veritable icon of modern perfumery. This month, the house launches J’Adore Infinissime, a sensuous update bolstered by a voluptuous heart of tuberose. Francois Demachy – perfumer-creator for Dior since 2006 – is the man behind it. He’s also the star of Nose, a recently released documentary that zeroes in on the secretive workings of the fragrance industry. Gordon Ng speaks with the master perfumer to find out about his process and how the most important ingredient in scent-making is the human touch.

SARTORIALISTS

All images were taken in accordance with Covid-19 regulations with subjects’ masks removed only for photography. For the full Q&A and more street style by FEMALE, visit www.femalemag.com.sg

A Gritty Pop-Rock Track About How It's Okay To Not Be Okay

A gritty pop-rock track about how it’s okay to not be okay. A throbbing electro-laced tune about finding peace with letting go. A three-part anthology film that’s meant to embody every one of the songs that she’s released since 2019. From mid-January, Narelle Kheng unveils the climax to what she’s been referring to as “the project”, her personal musical endeavour that she started two years ago – and one of the most ambitious and artistic to emerge from the local pop music scene. Noelle Loh gets the famously candid singer- songwriter to share about her creative and emotional journey, and newfound community.

The French Floral Artist Aude Giraud Introduces Her Second Act As A Creative

In 2015, the parisian modern-day Bohemian Aude Giraud uprooted to Singapore then launched the flower-focused lifestyle business ask a French, which helped start the trend for bucolic-chic arrangements and has since become an industry favourite. Last month, she introduced her second act as a creative:

Masters Of Flash

Every year since 2016, the house of Dior has invited a coterie of artists to use its lady dior bag as a blank canvas for painting, sculptural assemblage and all-round imaginative freedom. Despite the circumstances of 2020, this distillation of the maison’s haute couture savoir faire did not stop and this year’s dior lady art has in fact yielded some of the most thoughtful (and fun) interpretations of the tote from the initiative. As these limited-edition pieces hit the brand’s ngee ann city boutique this month, gordon ng zeroes in on the brains behind 13 of them.

The New School

From an altruistic champion of independent photographers to a fine dining restaurant curating art and music like no other, Keng Yang Shuen curates the people and spaces encouraging new ways of thinking and doing in Singapore’s art scene.

How Indie Pop Has Changed And How Celine Autumn Intends To Heat It Up

Celine Autumn, the frontwoman of the beloved Singapore indie band Sobs, has a new solo project and – with that – a new stage name, a new sound and a mesmerising Harajuku girl-gone-sci-fi new image. Putting her own cyber-punk spin on the runway’s ladylike pieces, the charismatic 23-year-old tells noelle loh how indie pop has changed and how she intends to heat it up.

Talking On Miami

Held every December, the international design fair design Miami has always been a heady confluence of fashion and art. For the 2020 edition, fendi – which has been taking part in the show for the past 12 years – roped in new york artist sarah coleman to reinterpret not only its boutique in the city, but also a series of its peekaboo totes. Playing with logos and monograms in her work (fendi’s included), coleman recontextualises the visual language of luxury branding – an approach that gets the thumbs up from silvia venturini fendi. The collaboration is an “opportunity to see how such creativity can evolve”, says the brand’s doyenne. Gordon Ng gets an exclusive from both women on how the relationship between their worlds is more exciting – and important – than ever.

Put Your Best Face Forward This Festive Season

Targeting fine lines and sagging skin, Thermage FLX uses radiofrequency to help boost collagen production to lift and tighten.

Life Is Beautiful

Some might say that the spring/summer 2021 collections are a signal of hope and optimism after a year of social distance and isolation. Key to that: the return of the human touch in more ways than one. Here, an edit of some of the season’s best and most creative craftsmanship that represents the ingenuity of the artisanal hand.

IMAN

IMAN FANDI, THE MULTI-HYPHENATE INDUSTRY DARLING WITH BURNING POP STAR AMBITIONS, DROPS HER LONG-ANTICIPATED DEBUT SINGLE IN FEBRUARY. WE CAN’T SHARE ITS NAME JUST YET; DITTO HOW IT SOUNDS, BUT WHAT WE CAN TELL YOU IS THAT – LIKE THE 20-YEAR-OLD STYLE CHAMELEON – IT’S SIZZLING.

LEEHI

THE SOUTH KOREAN SOLO ARTISTE BRINGS A BOLD AND SOPHISTICATED NEW FACE AND SOUND TO THE GENRE THE WORLD KNOWS AS K-POP. NOELLE LOH GETS CHARMED BY HER MAGIC.

What Does It Mean To Be Asian?

What does it mean to be asian? That question is so large, so vast, that answering it is nearly impossible. The truth is that Singaporeans today straddle multiple cultural identities: our own ethnic heritage, our place in the world as global citizens and our communal sense of a nation. So instead of trying to find an unattainable answer, we went in search of the particular. Image-making has the power of influencing how we view, imagine and define ourselves. Through their work and research, the three Singapore image-makers we spoke to here each deal with specific perspectives of asian-ness. All start unsurprisingly from some place (or something) personal then delve into bigger, more mercurial ideas: the dominance of eurocentric beauty ideals; the challenge of conceiving and creating a postcolonial identity; the fragility of heritage and history in a modern world. And in doing so, each offers a different viewpoint on what it means and looks like to be asian. Gordon NG goes in for a close-up.

The Power Of Joy

K-pop has undoubtedly been one of the biggest cultural exports out of asia and the same might just go for one of the scene’s most popular young female stars of the moment: the chameleonic style icon and multi-hyphenate entertainer joy.

Modern Talking

In 2019, Louis Vuitton introduced its Artycapucines project, which invites leading international artists to reimagine its Capucines tote – named after the Parisian street on which the brand opened its first boutique and known for its extensive craftsmanship. For the second edition – limited to 200 pieces worldwide per design – hitting selected stores (including the one here at Ngee Ann City) on oct 30, the Maison Ropes in for the first time two asian names: Xinjiang-born Zhao Zhao and Beijinger Liu Wei. Here, an exclusive with these chinese luminaries on their art and how they’ve transformed an artisanal handbag into a true objet d’art. Keng Yang Shuen reports.

A Place In The Sun

For the multitude of differences that we ought to recognise and embrace, there are some things that Asian women in general share in common when it comes to discussing matters of the skin. For example, scientific studies have shown that the all-protective, outermost layer of the complexi0n known as the stratum corneum in asian women is thin. We also are more prone to pigmentation because of higher levels of melanocyte activity. At the same time, the region’s humidity means that our sebaceous glands – which asians tend to have more of – can overreact (hands up if oily skin bothers you) while UV rays and pollution levels have made sensitised skin a growing condition here. All launched this year, the products on the next two pages don’t claim to cover the skincare concerns of all Asian women, but they do help tackle some of the most common. And – in the spirit of this edition’s theme – they’re all created by brands with roots in asia. Sofia Kim reports.

Fortune Favours The Boh

Fashion PR, writing, modelling – bohan qiu has tried his hand at all of them. In a way, the Shenzhen-born 26-year-old exemplifies the contemporary fashion multi-hyphenate with his latest turn being the entrepreneur behind boh project, a PR and digital content agency based in Shanghai. Founded last year, the company is already staking a claim in the chinese fashion scene, counting clients that range from giants (calvin klein, selfridges) to emerging names. Among the latter is the fashion and art presentation platform Xcommons, which made global headlines in march for producing a virtual reality presentation for the chinese labels Xu Zhi, Andrea Jiapei Li and Roderic Wong, and garnering over 4.8 million visits within the first day. So who better to speak to for insights into the fascinating, fast-moving and growing chinese fashion industry?

A Fall/ Winter 2020 Collection Report

(And some of the asian models who commanded the season’s runways)

Asia's True Top Models

A diversity report on the fall/winter 2020 runway season by the fashion spot – drawn from 194 shows that took place in the four major fashion week cities – found that 40.6 per cent of models cast were people of colour. In contrast, when the popular online portal started tallying diversity reports five years ago with the spring/summer 2015 season, that figure was 17 per cent. It’s commendable change, some might say – one that reflects the fashion industry’s growing interest in and recognition of the importance of representing a wide range of faces and ethnicities. Based in different parts of asia, the three modelling agencies featured here aren’t just vital players in this revolution; they’re expanding the conversation by championing specifically models from home. Gordon NG finds out how they’re changing the look and perceptions of Asian beauty.

Tiger tiger, burning bright

FELIPE OLIVEIRA BAPTISTA IS REMAKING KENZO FOR A MODERN AGE, TAPPING AS MUCH INTO THE ARCHIVES AS ITS FOUNDING JAPANESE DESIGNER’S ETHOS OF CULTURAL CURIOSITY FOR HIS DEBUT THIS SEASON. GORDON NG REPORTS ON HOW HE’S CONTINUING KENZO TAKADA’S LEGACY.

Home team

LOCAL LABEL BEYOND THE VINES HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE ITS TO MENTION STORES IN FIVE COUNTRIES), IT’S THE ARCHETYPE OF A, ’ INCEPTION FIVE YEARS AGO. WITH AN EXTENSIVE REBRANDING IN SINGAPORE FASHION LABEL MADE GOOD. SO WHO BETTER TO DISCUSS. PROCESS AND A NEWLY OPENED CONCEPT SPACE AT NGEE ANN CITY (NOT THE STATE OF SINGAPORE FASHION RETAIL TODAY? BY KENG YANG SHUEN