After an hour and a half sleep (I had breakfast at 5.30am because I was pretty keen on the breakfast banquet of 100 dishes that M Hotel had laid out) and discovering that Iman, her manager Balsam and I were all staying at the same hotel we made our way to the convention hall together after breakfast (and a few wardrobe malfunctions later). We made it on time to the wonderful and talented Minluna's styling workshop.
On day two my first outfit of the day was:
Stripe Knot Shirt Thobe | Zahra Rose Alazaibi
Textured white trousers | H&M
Black woven scarf | H&M
This was quite an effortless look for me, it worked perfectly with the overpoweringly humid Singaporean whether. The shirt was actually part of my graduate collection which I never ended up launching but will be available to purchase soon.
Minluna discussed and styled hijabs as well as current fashion trends. We actually learnt a great deal about how to style chiffon styles (especially since in London everybody loves volume in their scarves so its something we rarely see). After watching her (and her assistant) style the hijabs I've decided to give chiffon hijabs a good try (I have a few from Verona Collection I've been saving). You'll notice in the day two blog that the hijab styling actually has a lot to do with the under-cap - who would've thought?
Minluna discussed how to make hijab a apart of your outfit rather than just something which has to be there- I think we're all guilty of slapping on that old black hijab with our beautifully styled outfits.
On the second day I attended ALL the fashion shows once more. Collections were ANZA, Girlfriends, Owl by Nora Danish. Owl's entertainment was on point- Nora broke out into rap with guest artist Warisn as her collection debuted the catwalk, the collection itself was 1920's inspired Malay clothing, a nice twist on tradition. Anza was among my favourite collections with their beautifully draped sequin skirts.
The second set of shows included; LullySelb, Pure the Lable, Rosita By Hussin, and Mimpikita.
I loved Pure the Label from the moment I saw their promo video for SG Fashion Week. The lucidity of the silhouettes combined with the gorgeous simplicity and no-fuss approach to the fabrics works beautifully. All of the pieces can be mixed and matched, I especially love the idea of mixing the new collection silks with the organic nature of the previous collection. It came as no surprise that many of the pieces sold out during SG Modest Fashion Week.
The second set of shows included; LullySelb, Pure the Lable, Rosita By Hussin, and Mimpikita.
Mimpikita's collection reminded me of versace regal collection with a Malay twist and the adored pastel colour palette, I loved it- especially the accessories.
The entertainment in between shows was absolutely phenomenal, I have never heard or seen so many talented people all in one room.Even though some songs were in Malay they were so catchy that we found ourselves jammin' (oh my goodness I just used the word jammin' -do people even still use that?) to the beat and singing along.
Aisyaah was so lovely, I fan girl-ed after seeing her live. Beauty, vocals and the brains!
The third show consisted of Lulu Alhadad and Fiziwoo. I met Fiziwoo in London previously so I knew exactly what to expect from this show and they really set the bar. They of course did not fail to deliver.
The final set was No Skin Attatched, Beta Azee, lastly the well anticipated Rico Rinaldi show. The Rico show consisted of two segments- the ready to wear collection and the bridal wear collection, both were absolutely beautiful, the bridal wear gracefully stole the show.
The brand Rico Rinadaldi itself was launched in 2006 and I was actually just graduated from university. I was a fashion and retail student. However, I discovered my love for fashion when I was 10 years old. I had my mums sewing machine stored in my room, it was her hobby - but she didnt have time for it, so left it in my room. Thats when I started to play around with it and created little things like pencil cases and purses. From there I taught myself how to sew and make basic clothing. I started to study at university to brush up my skill in sewing, designing and sketching where everything was very hands on and I joined a lot of competitions. Thats where I believed I gained the most experience and met a lot of fashion people and media. From there my passion to fashion was really growing and I started to have my own label slowly.
What do you look forward to designing the most when you're beginning a new collection and why?
whenever I want to create a new collection the aim is to always do something which I didnt do with my previous collection. So once I finish a collection I will move forward and leave everything else behind. The inspiration is generally derived from what the mood is when I make that decision, sometimes that is inspired with travel, my surroundings, clients, people I see, day-to-day interactions - this what drives me to create collection.
Then I will relate the inspiration to the current market- what my clients want, so that whatever I create has market value and translates into business. I believe that designers can have the wildest inspiration but at the end of the day it needs to translate into sales. clientele are very important.
I want to have very strong relations with the Muslim markets, especially the high end Muslim market. I think that the muslim market is really interesting because people always thought that Islamic fashion is only about wearing black - for me its about educating, breaking barriers and enhancing themes; layering, injecting beautiful fabrics, amazing silhouettes. So I think the muslim world is one of the best consumers for my deigns - I think that with Islamic fashions we can generate more income.
I loved interviewing Rico and really appreciated his honesty and rooting his designs to his own background, instead of purely focusing on winning over the European and Western market like many designers do. I have a lot of respect for designers that cater to their home audiences first and foremost.
After the show its safe to say we all felt exhausted so what better way to celebrate and cement our new friendships than with traditional Singaporean food? Look out for our evening shenanigans in my Vlog, but for now, day three is still to come.
Photos curtesy of @MediacorpSuria and @JulyPhotogrophy.sg
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